Finch trapping not allowed this autumn; season will open for plover and song thrush

● FKNK says it will ‘keep working’ for a derogation

Finch trapping, a practice targeted by the European Union as of late, will be not be allowed this autumn, but the season will open and allow the trapping of plover (pluvier) and song thrush (malvizz).

The government’s consultative committee Ornis recommended that a derogation on the trapping of plover and song thrush be applied with certain changes to what had been implemented during the previous autumn season.

One such change would include a minimum mesh size of 34 square millimetres in the case of song thrush, with trapping nets no larger than 38 square metres.

Dimensions for the trapping of plover remain identical – a mesh size of at least 45 square millimetres, and nets no larger than 60 square metres.

The plover trapping season will open on 1 November 2019 and close on 10 January 2020, while that of song thrush will be open between 20 October and 31 December 2019.

It has also been noted that this year, in addition to trappers having to ring the birds used to attract others, they must now ring all other birds they catch.

The Federation for Hunting and Conservation (FKNK), Malta’s national hunting lobby, has said, in response to the news, that there are a number of changes currently being implemented in Europe, meaning that the application of a derogation could have negative repercussions on the future of finch trapping.

FKNK says that it will keep working with the government to overcome any remaining obstacles so that a derogation on trapping in autumn can be applied as soon as possible.

Trapping in Malta has long been under EU scrutiny, with the European Court of Justice ruling last year that Malta was violating EU rules by allowing the trapping of protected finches.

Song thrush and plover are not similarly protected, however. Conservationists argue that opening the season for these two species could serve as a front to catch protected birds illegally.