The FKNK, the ministry of Gozo agree on the best practices for pigeon hunting, a research project on songbirds
The hunting lobbying group FKNK and Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri agreed on how the dove hunting season, and a research project on birds, can be practiced by hunters and n -a trapper of Malta in a legal and practical way.
In a statement, the FKNK said that it met the minister twice this week, with one meeting held with other ministerial officials and workers from the Wild Birds Regulation Unit.
ℹ MINISTER CLINT CAMILLERI IN MEETINGS WITH FKNK This week the Honorable Minister Clint Camilleri had two meetings…
Posted by Federation Caccaturi Ssaba Conservations – FKNK on Sunday, August 28, 2022
The FKNK said that the two sides discussed at length the dove hunting season, as well as a research project in the autumn on songbirds.
Both sides eventually reached an agreement on how these two practices will be regulated and carried out legally. “The data collected by hunters and trappers during these seasons will be evidence of the sustainability of both practices,” said the lobby group.
Earlier this week, BirdLife Malta wrote an open letter to Prime Minister Robert Abela requesting that the autumn hunting season be opened after 15 October.
The group’s request for bird conservation was made after 40 black birds, a protected species, were killed in two days.
BirdLife said that if the Prime Minister cannot give assurances that illegal hunting will be fought with strict enforcement and better laws, then the hunting seasons had no place in Malta. “The Prime Minister should immediately condemn what happened,” said BirdLife in a statement.
Meanwhile, the European Commission referred Malta to the Court of Justice of the European Union for authorizing the trapping of finches for research purposes.
Live trapping of migratory birds is banned across the EU, but member states can put forward a derogation as long as it is used “judiciously, in small numbers and under strict supervision.”
She said that Malta failed to apply the Birds Directive, a general system of protection for wild birds that allows derogations on hunting and trapping, subject to strict conditions.
Indeed, the Maltese government defied Brussels and continued to allow trappers to capture protected songbirds as part of a research project that collects scientific data on bird migration.