New digital system to replace live-capturing hunting license

Parliamentary secretary for animal rights Roderick Galdes today announced changes to the hunting licensing system which he said will reduce bureaucracy. However, Birdlife Malta have expressed concerns that the digitised system will reduce the statistical benefits that the old carnet de chasse system catered for.

The changes include the introduction of a new digital system which replaces the manual carnet de chasse system. Moreover, the booklet will be by an ID card system valid for five years. Galdes said this will reduce bureaucracy and increase efficiency in enforcement. The head of the Wild Bird Regulation Unit, Sergei Golovkin, was also present at the conference, and stressed that the new system will both decrease bureaucracy and help in the enforcement of hunting and trapping regulations. 

"The advantage of this system is that we would be able to respond immediately. With the old carnet de chasse system, we would perhaps be able to investigate sites a year or so later. Now, this can be done straight away," Golovkin said, adding that while the information inputted into the system will be kept in a database - as is standard for any method of law enforcement monitoring - entites like Birdlife and the hunting federation FKNK will be able to access the information on request. 

Golovkin added that the new system will also help enforcement officials who, contrary to what happened with the carnet de chasse, can now check the identity of the hunters thanks to the new ID card - which will have photo identification - and will also be able to identify the hunters on inspection by means of their mobile number, which they would be able to confirm on their iPad system. 

Asked how this new system will be financed, Galdes said that the reduction of bureucracy that this system implies means that it will be self-financed.

The fee for this new five-year general license, payable at MaltaPost, will be as follows: (1) five-year license to hunt birds on land: €50; (2) five-year license to hunt birds at sea: €50; (3) five-year license to hunt wild rabbits: €50; (4) five-year license to capture wild rabbit with nets: €25; (5) five-year general live-capturing license: €50. The above fees imply that hunters or live-capturers presently holding one category of licence will only be paying 50% less over a five-year period when compared to present fees. 

For hunting to be practised, one still has to ensure that he is covered by a valid membership in a hunting organisation, a valid insurance policy, and has a police weapon permit for the year in which hunting will be carried out. Hunting during any derogation will require a separate licence issued specifically for that year when the derogation is applied. Similar requirements also apply in the case of live-capturing licences.

While the license is officially valid for five years, it can be suspended or revoked if the holder is accused of committing illegalities and reinstated according to the individual case in question.

Birdlife Malta express concerns about new system

In a reaction, Birdlife Malta (BLM) said that from all the proposed amendments issued for pubic consultation last November, and to which BirdLife Malta reacted to in December, only those changes which are being stated as administrative have come to force.

BLM stressed that it intends to continue discussions with the Environment Ministry on ways in which "the weakening of the Conservation of Wild Birds Regulations" can be stopped, while adding that concerns still remain over the new system - which will come into effect as soon as next week. 

"These include the fact that checks in place to ensure that hunters are adequately reporting their catches, will now more than ever rely on the enforcement afforded by the already stretched ALE unit within the Malta Police Force," the statement said, adding that other concerns include the fact that the electronic game reporting system falls short of providing information on hunting effort.

"In the old carnet de chasse system hunters were obliged to also record hunting days when no catches were made, a valuable statistic useful for authorities to report on hunting seasons and derogations. It appears the new system will not cater for collecting this valuable statistic, which would otherwise help authorities gauge the latest trends in hunting effort," the Birdlife statement said.

For further enquiries on the new system, one can contact the Wild Birds Regulation Unit on 2292 6401 or on [email protected], or in person at 122, Triq Misrah il-Barrieri, Sta Venera