Wader trapping on Malta
Waders such as lapwings, various plovers and sandpipers are not only shot on Malta, but also caught with nets. The trapping sites consist of two nets mounted parallel next to each other on the ground, up to 50 metres long and held under tension with metal springs. The trapping sites are often located on the coast and are equipped with water scrapes or ponds and live or electronic decoys. When birds gather on the surface between the nets - often placed around a mud island - the trappers manually trigger the catches. The nets then spring over the birds and catch them alive.
The birds caught in this way are either used as decoys in hunting, stuffed into trophy collections, bought by animal collectors or killed and eaten.
Bird trapping is prohibited under the EU Birds Directive. However, Malta makes use of a loophole to grant a derogation to allow the trapping of golden plovers in autumn. The caught birds - officially around 700 birds per year - are used as live decoys to hunt the now endangered wader species.
However, many bird trappers used their sites to also catch protected birds as well. They put their trapping sites into operation in midsummer, when the first wading birds take a rest during their migration from the Scandinavian breeding areas in the Mediterranean region. The birds most affected are red and green sandpipers, wood sandpipers, wood sandpipers, ruff, alpine sandpipers and ringed plovers.
But even in the official trapping season in October and November, not everything goes right. For example, trapping sites are often operated during the night, although trapping is only permitted during the day. In addition to this, electronic decoy callers are widely used, which is strictly forbidden. In addition, golden plover are frequently offered for sale on well-known websites, although commercial sale of the birds is strictly forbidden.
Since 2014, the Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) has been organising bird protection camps in Malta in summer and late autumn to monitor and investigate the trapping of wading birds.