Increased hunting fines ‘a major step forward’ – BirdLife

BirdLife Malta congratulated the government on its plans to revise legislation so that serious hunting offences have much more stringent penalties.

BirdLife Malta Executive Director Steve Micklewright said, "This is a major step forward and BirdLife Malta strongly supports the efforts of the government to ensure that the penalties for the illegal killing of protected birds reflect the severity of such crimes."

He added that the doubling of penalties for shooting protected birds or shooting in a bird sanctuary and the increase in fines to €15,000 for repeat offenders are especially welcome.

"We trust that the courts will also be encouraged to apply the ultimate penalty of imprisonment and the suspension of hunting licences for long periods when the crimes warrant such penalties."

BirdLife also welcomed the decision to introduce administrative or 'on the spot' fines for minor offences.

"On the spot fines are an effective way of dealing with these sorts of infringements and should enable the police and courts to focus on the much more serious offences.  However, we urge the government to ensure that repeat minor offenders are put through the courts when on the spot fines do not deter them," Micklewright said.

While acknowledging the increases in penalties as a major step forward, BirdLife Malta expressed its concern that illegal bird hunters need to feel the chances of them being caught and convicted are high for the new penalties to act as a deterrent.

"BirdLife Malta looks forward to the establishment of a specialist police wildlife crime unit who will be trained and competent in detecting illegal bird hunting. This is a vital next step and we will support the government every step of the way as they try to make this unit a reality."

The greater regulation of hunting organisations has also been welcomed by BirdLife Malta with the introduction of minimum standards likely to make the FKNK the only hunting organisation that hunters can join in order to get a hunting licence. 

Micklewright added "A major problem has been the possibility of convicted illegal hunters registering with different hunting organisations in order to get a hunting licence. We hope that these changes will mean that the FKNK will feel more confident in expelling rogue hunters and trappers from its membership as part of more coordinated efforts by stakeholders to end illegal hunting on Malta."