An Irish bird ringer has had his licence suspended by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) after complaints regarding his involvement in a finch-trapping initiative being run by the Maltese government and the hunters' federation FKNK.
"Under this initiative, large numbers of finches are being trapped, purportedly to search for previously ringed birds and using essentially the same techniques as were used previously to catch finches in order to take them into captivity. Most of those involved were participants in previous finch-trapping activities in Malta," the BTO said in a statement.
It did not name the ringer but the FKNK last week said that Declan Coney was appointed by the government via a public tender to carry out bird ringing services.
FKNK complained that he had requested 600 bird rings from Birdlife but had been denied by the NGO. Birdlife responded by saying Coney had not responded to their request for further information.
The BTO recalled that earlier this year, the European Commission brought a successful case to the European Court of Justice (ECJ), which found that Malta failed to fulfil its obligations under European law on the conservation of wild birds.
"The involvement of a ringer holding a BTO permit has been reviewed carefully, in particular with reference to the evidence provided by BTO Research Fellow, Dr Stephen Baillie, to the European Commission in support of their case. This evidence failed to identify any legitimate scientific reason for the large-scale trapping of finches in Malta. The individual about whom complaints have been raised is not currently ringing finches in Malta, having not been granted rings by the coordinators of the Maltese Ringing Scheme, Birdlife Malta," the BTO said.
It added that it was concerned that because the individual in question held a ringing permit issued by the BTO's Licensing Team, third parties may make the incorrect assumption that the fieldwork that this individual was undertaking was associated with, and therefore supported by, BTO.
"We therefore consider that the actions of this ringer pose a significant reputational risk to BTO and the delivery of our scientific and charitable work."
His ringing permit was suspended pending further investigation.
"We will inform all holders of a BTO ringing permit that any individual involved in similar projects in future, where the lack of a legal basis has the potential to cause reputational risk, may find themselves facing sanction," the trust warned.