There are few issues that expose Malta’s political weakness as starkly as hunting and trapping.
Year after year, government after government, this country’s leadership continues to bow before a lobby that holds the nation hostage. And, now, once again, Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri (a bird trapper himself) is trying to fool the European Commission with his latest finch-trapping “derogation”.
Only two days after meeting a European commissioner to discuss Malta’s ongoing dispute with the EU over the illegal trapping of finches, Camilleri announced a new derogation to allow it.
Days later, we found out the new derogation was never mentioned during that meeting, and Brussels only learned about it from the media.
It’s a shameful episode that confirms what most Maltese citizens already know: this government’s pledges on environmental issues cannot be trusted.
The government continues to hide behind the laughable excuse of “scientific research” to justify these derogations. Nobody believes it – not the European Commission, not environmental NGOs, and not even the trappers themselves. The only thing being studied here is how far Malta can bend the law before Brussels runs out of patience.
This year’s so-called “research” season is even more scandalous. The government removed the requirement for bird rings to come from EURING-approved schemes, effectively cutting BirdLife Malta (the local EURING partner and the only independent monitor of trapping practices) out of the process entirely. It’s the equivalent of putting the fox in charge of the henhouse and calling it conservation.
BirdLife was right to remind everyone that the European Commission has not approved or endorsed Malta’s 2025 finch derogation. Both this year’s and last year’s trapping seasons directly breach the EU Birds Directive and the European Court of Justice ruling of September 2024. In any other member state, that would be the end of the story. But, in Malta, defiance is dressed up as patriotism, and the hunters’ lobby continues to call the shots.
Camilleri’s defence that BirdLife is “badmouthing Malta” in Europe is pathetic. It’s the oldest populist trick in the book: brand those who tell the truth as unpatriotic.
What really damages Malta’s reputation is not BirdLife’s honesty but the government’s deceit. It’s about time the European Commission wakes up to the fact that it’s been taken for a ride for years and forces action.
Meanwhile, as we wait, the lawlessness in our countryside continues. Just last week, a coordinated enforcement operation dismantled multiple illegal trapping sites and seized equipment used for poaching. We keep seeing the same illegalities and impunity from hunters and trappers, knowing law enforcement is lax.
The irony, of course, is, in a way, almost comical. This same government opposed the opposition’s proposal to enshrine environmental protection as a fundamental constitutional right on the grounds that pastimes like bird trapping would be at risk – this is the same government now pushing planning policies that threaten to take even more open land for development.
It’s a shame to know our government continues to bow down to a noisy minority that keeps threatening with its vote. It’s also a shame that the opposition has long lost its voice on this subject. The government’s stated objective of supporting so-called ‘traditional hobbies’ is evidently being placed ahead of the interests of the Maltese, even if it harms our international reputation.
The finch-trapping saga is not about tradition but about weakness, the appeasement of a cruel practice and contempt for European law. And, as long as our leaders remain spineless before the hunters’ and trappers’ lobby, we all remain captive.