PL MP backs hunters' call for fairer penalties after €5,000 trapping fine
Ramona Attard, FKNK say punishments for hunting and trapping should be more proportionate
Updated 1.55pm with BirdLife Malta comments
Labour MP and former party president Ramona Attard has joined the Federation for Hunting and Conservation (FKNK) in calling for better proportionality in punishments handed down to hunters and trappers after a man was fined €5,000 for illegal bird trapping.
In a facebook post on Friday, Attard said she agreed with FKNK presidentLukas Micallef who urged that penalties should be proportionate to the offence.
“I fully agree,” Attard wrote. “There should be more proportionality in the case of punishments related to hunting and trapping, especially if it is a first offence. I look forward to more discussions in this sector.”
The FKNK president insisted that the federation always upheld the principle that laws must be respected and illegalities should never be defended.
However, Micallef argued that certain offences “included those related to drugs” have been decriminalised while others, such as those related to hunting and trapping, carry penalities “which can reach extreme and disproportionate levels compared to the seriousness of the offence”.
The federation has submitted proposals to the Ornis Committee asking for a revision of the penalities to ensure they are “fairer and more proportionate”.
“Our goal is not to grant a ‘carte blanche’ for serious offences. On the contrary, we want to ensure that punishment is appropriate and fair according to the actions committed,” Micallef said.
“Let’s be sensible and humane,” he added.
Responding to these comments, Birdlife Malta chief executive Mark Sultana argued that reducing penalties would only enable those who “do not care about the law”.
He pointed out that even with the current penalties, a large number of hunters and trappers are fined for breaking the law.
“If that is not enough of a deterrent than what would happen if penalties were to be reduced other than facilitate those who do not care about the law,” Sultana said.
He also pointed out that the case of the trapper who was fined €5,000 involved a repeat offender.
“He did not make a mistake. He knew what he was doing. He makes money by breaking the law. Whatever he catches is sold.”
Malta is committed to reducing illegal hunting and trapping of wild birds by at least 50 per cent by 2030.