Friday, 20 October 2017,
11:37Last update: about 4 days ago
Birdlife Malta and the Committee
Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) have blasted the government for opening another
bird trapping season.
The season opened yesterday and
will last until the end of the year.
BirdLife Malta was critical of
the decision, noting that Malta was waiting for an imminent verdict in the
European Court of Justice case against the derogation of finch trapping. “The
trapping derogation was reinstated in 2014 without even being mentioned in any
electoral manifesto and hence without an electoral mandate,” the organization
said.
“Trapping is prohibited across the EU and
this was made clear even in ECJ Advocate General Eleanor V. E. Sharpston's
Opinion delivered in July,” Birdlife said.
The opinion had found that Malta
had no judicious cause to trap birds and questioned the level of enforcement
and supervision.
“With almost 4,000 trappers
allowed to set their nets on a daily basis, the probability of having the
quotas reached and surpassed is high. This however will fail to materialise
statistically since it is the trappers themselves that have to report their
catches,” Birdlife said.
The organization also added that
it had seen trapping taking place even before the season had opened.
CABS also slammed the government
for opening the season, saying that “it seems that this government is willing
to let Malta pay a high price to please a small group of trappers whose selfish
hobby has destroyed bird populations, the maltese countryside and Malta´s
reputation abroad.”
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