Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1422293
5 NEWS maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 27 OCTOBER 2021 MATTHEW VELLA THE Committee Against Bird Slaughter has accused bird trap- per of poaching thousands of wild birds with impunity due to "bla- tant political backing" paralys- ing the government's Wild Birds Regulatoary Authority (WBRU). CABS accused the regulator of "systematic incompetence" after witnessing police officers in the field without any maps, tablets, or any tool to enable them to dis- tinguish between legal and illegal sites. The trapping season was opened on 20 October without the publication of GPS data of the registered trapping sites three days before the season, which is obligatory according to the new framework legislation released on the same day. "Police and public were unaware of rules until that point," CABS Wildlife Crime Officer Fiona Burrows said. "To make matters worse, the 'enforce- ment hotline' from WBRU – like the whole concept of the so-called study – seems to exist only on pa- per. We tried to reach them at least 12 times at various times of the day and from different numbers, but nobody replied." Since the beginning of the season last Friday, CABS identified over 110 active finch trapping sites not listed in the GPS data of permit- ted sites published by the WBRU no 20 October. In recent days, inspections with the police revealed that half of all bird trappers were being granted a "special permit" from WBRU despite their trapping sites not being listed in the public data- base. "We understand that a huge number of sites are either miss- ing or their locations have been incorrectly plotted by up to 70m," Burrows said. "With wrong data, enforcement officers will be incapacitated and unable to validate targeted checks or focus on poachers who take advantage of the enforce- ment chaos." Despite these difficult condi- tions, CABS and members of the Environment Protection Unit (EPU) of the police were able to catch several bird poachers over the weekend. Among them were two participants of the govern- ment's "research study" trapping season, who were caught trap- ping with more than the permit- ted number of clap-nets in Dingli. The police dismantled the traps, confiscated all nets and more than 50 live finches. Both poach- ers were identified and will be in- vestigated for trapping infringe- ments. Three large clap nets were also found inside the Miżieb wood- land. The EPU were called and removed the illegal traps, the poacher managed to escape. On Monday, a CABS team on Gozo led the police to four trapping sites in Marsalforn and Xewkija which turned out to be without any permit and were therefore also dismantled. Photos published by CABS show officers of the EPU and of the Gozo police on site handling protected birds and removing il- legal nets. CABS also reported that illegal trapping was already rampant in the weeks before the official opening of the season, with a to- tal of 27 illegal sites being shut down and more than 90 birds confiscated following CABS's re- ports alone. "One of them resulted in the arrest of a man who had set up his clap-net on a narrow green strip in the middle of the govern- ment quarter of the capital Val- letta – just 250 metres from the headquarters of the Maltese po- lice," CABS said. A pair of large clap-nets and 12 live decoy birds, including siskins, linnets and hawfinches were confiscated and later released. CABS also published a video documenting lack of EPU and re- sources on Gozo where a young, masked man has been illegal- ly setting up a clap-net to catch finches. Police were called to the scene, yet the suspect still had ample time to collect six live de- coys and flee in plain view of the police. Bird trappers with unregistered sites issued with 'special permit' Officers of the EPU and of the Gozo police on site handling protected birds and removing illegal nets (Photo: CABS) M.V. Marie de Lourdes (Registration Number 14243) In accordance Court Decree of 25 August 2021, The administrator of World Water Fisheries Limited with registration Number C 24129 Notifies that Persons/Entities having any claims of whatever nature Including but not limited to share of ownership, title or any other interest in &/or against the above-mentioned Marine vessel; are kindly requested to submit their claim supported with the relevant documentation by registered mail with confirmation by 31 October 2021 to the following address. The Administrator, World Water Fisheries Limited 113, Paola Road, Tarxien TXN 1807 The Administrator reserves the right not to consider claims which are not submitted as stated above.