Hunters to save €647,750 through new licensing system

Hunters and trappers will collectively save €647,750 through the new hunting licensing system, data from hunting federation FKNK shows.

As a result of the new system, hunters only have to renew their licenses every five years as opposed to annually, resulting in significant savings for the absolute majority of registered hunters and trappers.

A five-year license to hunt or trap birds now costs €50, compared to an annual €20 fee under the previous system. A five-year license to hunt wild rabbit with nets now costs €25, down from the previous €20 annual fee.

A five-year joint hunting and trapping license now costs €75, compared to an annual €40 under the old system.

This ultimately means that 12,500 of the 12,602 registered hunters and trappers will save between €25 and €100 in licensing fees over a five-year period.

The exceptions are for people in possession of three or all of the four possible hunting licenses – namely bird hunting on land, bird hunting at sea, hunting wild rabbits, and capturing wild rabbits with nets – and for people with all four hunting licenses as well as a trapping one. Only one hunter in Malta is currently in possession of all five possible licenses.

In total, these 102 hunters will now their license bills increase by €4,650 over a five-year period.  

Through the new system, hunters are now obliged to report their catches by telephone – replacing the manual Carnet de Chasse booklet.

The new license card resembles an ID card – with photo identification – that will allow police to instantly identify hunters.

Parliamentary secretary for animal rights Roderick Galdes said that the changes were introduced so as to reduce bureaucracy and enhance the enforcement of hunting and trapping regulations.

However, BirdLife Malta warned that hunters are now no longer obliged to record hunting days when no catches were made, a valuable statistic used by authorities to report on hunting seasons and derogations.