The Federation for Hunting and Conservation (FKNK) has advised that at the last Ornis Committee Meeting, held on the 14th of July, the Committee agreed to recommend to the Government that derogations be applied to allow the trapping of song thrush and Golden plovers this autumn under the same conditions and restrictions as last year.

It also said that the Committee, did however defer the vote to the next meeting to apply a derogation to continue “research” on song birds next autumn, as last year.

FKNK went on to say that the Committee also agreed on the new points system, which will soon become effective, regarding “administrative hunting and trapping contraventions.”

“This will be in line with the Government’s policy of decriminalising minor offences so that fewer people are brought to justice,” the FKNK said.

In June, the European Commission called on Malta to “correctly apply the Birds Directive (Directive 2009/147/EC), and discontinue its practice to authorise finch trapping.”

The EC said that Malta had recently authorised finch trapping for “research purposes, having previously authorised finch trapping for recreational purposes for several years, an action which was found to be non-compliant with the Birds Directive by the Court of Justice.”

In particular, the Commission said that it considered that the new derogation scheme adopted in October 2020 authorising the trapping of finches for “research purposes circumvents the judgement of the Court of Justice, by permitting trapping of finches in similar conditions as before this ruling, even if under a different regime.”

Following the unsatisfactory reply from the Maltese authorities to the letter of formal notice, the Commission said that it had sent a reasoned opinion to Malta.

Malta now had one month to remedy the situation, otherwise, the Commission may decide to refer the case to the Court of Justice.

The Minutes of the Ornis Committee meetings, which are in English, are available to the public by clicking this link.

File photo: BirdLife Malta

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