The Maltese Ornis Committee has voted unanimously to advise the government to ban the trapping of wild finches. The Committee was set up as an advisory body to the government on issues related to the protection of wild birds, hunting and trapping as part of the conditions set by the EU Accession Treaty Agreement.
International Animal Rescue has worked on this issue for the past 16 years in Malta and welcomes the committee’s decision. Max Farrugia, our representative in Malta, said: “This is a very important decision and we sincerely hope that the Malta Government will follow the committee’s advice.” He added that that it would send a strong signal to Brussels that Malta intends to honour its Accession Treaty agreement.
The Ornis Committee has not opposed the trapping of four species that are not part of the Accession agreement: these are the golden plover, the song thrush, the turtle dove and the common quail. The trapping dates for the first two species are between 10 October up to 10 January, while the other two can be trapped between 1 September and 31 October. However, during this season the majority of Maltese trappers mainly catch finches, with very few targeting other species. This means that in effect as from next October trapping will cease or will be reduced to a bare minimum.
Environmental groups in Malta welcomed the news and said they fervently hoped the Malta Government would honour the committee’s decision.
During the meeting the committee also set the dates for the autumn hunting season from 1 September 1 to 31 January. Members agreed to recommend that the afternoon ban on hunting during the peak raptor migration period in September is retained to curb illegal hunting. This is a great help to the police in controlling the situation.
During the International bird guard camp which is organised by the Committeee Against Bird Slaughter with support from International Animal Rescue it was noted that this ban was a great benefit to the Administrative Law Enforcement Police in enabling them to do their job effectively. During the past two years illegal hunting has been vastly less than in previous years.