VALLETTA, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- Malta's autumn trapping season opened, allowing trappers to "live-catch" seven species of finches as well as golden plover and song thrushes, local media reported Friday.
The season closes on the last day of the year.
Through a statement, Malta's secretariat responsible for hunting said the overall national bag limit for this season would be some 33,000 birds, spread across the legally permissible species.
The "uptake of the applicable individual and national bag limits will be monitored in real time through a telephonic reporting system", it added.
The decision to open the season was, however, criticized by environmental NGO BirdLife Malta and the Germany-based Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS), which pointed out that Malta was still facing a challenge in the EU courts, where it stands accused of breaching the EU birds directive.
The European Commission took Malta to the European Court of Justice after no progress was registered in a longstanding dispute over trapping. Malta received a letter of formal notice in 2014, but nonetheless opened its trapping season, as it has done every year since.
In an opinion by Eleanor Sharpton, the advocate general at the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg, she declared that Malta's trapping regulations were in breach of EU law and clearly failed to fulfill its obligations to abide by the EU birds directive.
The ministry responded by saying it had "taken note" of the opinion, but would be awaiting the court's final verdict.
"It seems that this government is willing to let Malta pay a high price to please a small group of trappers," said CABS president Heinz Schwarze.
CABS criticized the Wild Birds Regulation Unit (WBRU) and the parliamentary secretary for animal rights, Clint Camilleri, for claiming that trapping is being rigorously monitored.
"The opposite is the case, with more than 50 cases of illegal trapping reported by CABS this year alone," he said.
BirdLife said that while the number of trappers made it likely for more birds to be trapped than the quota permits, it is unlikely to be reported by trappers.
"Unfortunately, we have seen trapping going on even before the season with a number of birds being already caught illegally," said the NGO. "We can only but hope that the authorities do their job properly in enforcing the law. BirdLife Malta will once again monitor this activity and will report illegalities immediately while collecting evidence."
