They fool nobody, not even themselves. The ‘research project’ that enables bird trappers with a ‘special’ licence to register trapping sites for the purpose of capturing, recording, and then releasing finches is what all know it to be, a barely disguised fig leaf.
The trappers know, the government knows, the public knows, and the EU knows. To describe bird trapping as ‘scientific research’ and trappers as ‘scientists’ is deeply cynical and does little for Malta’s already tarnished reputation on the issue.
In 2018, the European Court of Justice found Malta guilty of breaching the law on the protection of bird species. In December 2020, the government ignored the ruling, went ahead, and opened the hunting and trapping season, claiming it was for a scientific study to ring birds and re-release them.
The evidence to date, as compiled by NGO BirdLife Malta, suggests widespread and systematic abuse of the project with the bulk of trapped birds never being released. The government has also, over the years involved, reduced the restrictions and requirements on trappers as well as enforcement of the rules.
At present, it is estimated that there are over 2,500 registered ‘research’ sites with many additional illegal sites. BirdLife calculates that some 50,000 plus finches have been trapped and not released as required. The NGO has also documented what it describes as ‘blatant’ ignoring and abuse of stated rules.
The hunters’ organisations have consistently condemned any illegality associated with the project but have also angrily challenged the arguments and data from BirdLife. However, they have produced no research data or reports itself instead insisting that that the issue is about defending a ‘traditional’ Maltese practice.
The hunters’ representatives have characterised BirdLife as ‘extremist’ and lobbied the government to ‘protect’ trappers and to ‘safeguard’ Malta’s hunting and trapping practices and protect the country’s image.
The derogation has been in place for years and is now the subject of legal action by the European Commission. Two issues are in play. One, whether Malta can justify continuing to facilitate trappers in targeting finches as part of ‘research’. Secondly, did Malta breach the ruling of the court in 2018 by allowing trapping to continue.
At its hearing last Thursday, the European Court of Justice requested an independent expert opinion on the issue by the end of May. The court will subsequently deliver its final judgment.
The debate surrounding the project is fundamentally dishonest and damaging for Malta at several levels. That the Maltese government might apply a derogation to laws on the protection of bird species for ‘research’ reasons might be deemed reasonable if ongoing research reports were published and available for scrutiny. But no such reports have emerged.
It is clear that the government’s position and action has little to do with bird species protection and everything to do with promoting the agenda and interests of a cohort of a section of its political support base.
BirdLife Malta has produced credible evidence and case studies of the abuses associated with the ‘research project’, and it has made them available for public scrutiny and debate. In stark contrast, the hunters’ organisations have offered no alternative reasoning or results and instead concentrates on attacking its critics.
Countless opinions have been written about the way the two main parties in Malta have bent over backwards to appease hunters and trappers, simply because they threaten politicians at gunpoint.
Let us remember that the hunting portfolio falls under the remit of Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri – a bird trapper himself! You just couldn’t make it up. The only hope we have is for the European Court to put a stop to this charade.
Activists gathered on the steps of Castille in October to tell Robert Abela he has "blood on your hands" over a lack of action on illegal hunting.