By Samuel White | EURACTIV.com
Nov 9, 2017
Malta opened its wild bird
trapping season in October, disregarding its EU accession promise to outlaw the
practice and a pending case at the European Court of Justice.
The tradition of trapping wild
songbirds to keep in captivity is deeply rooted in Maltese society. Trappers
use live decoys to attract migrating finches, which are highly prized for their
song, to their nets.
But the controversial trapping
practice has landed Malta in hot water with environmental NGOs and the EU
courts. Not only are finches protected under EU law – like all wild birds – but
the use of nets is not a permitted method of capture.
After banning the practice in
2009 to respect the EU’s Birds Directive and uphold a promise it made before
joining the EU in 2004, Malta backtracked in 2013. Courting favour with
trappers, the newly-elected Labour government reopened the trapping season
using a derogation supporters say is justified by the small scale of the
activity.
“The Birds Directive is designed
to allow these culturally important small-scale traditional hunting
activities,” said Ludwig Willnegger, secretary-general of the European
Federation of Associations for Hunting and Conservation (FACE).
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