CONSERVATION OF WILD BIRDS (DECLARATION ON A DEROGATION FOR AN AUTUMN 2022 LIVE- CAPTURING SEASON FOR SONG THRUSH AND

CONSERVATION OF WILD BIRDS (DECLARATION ON A

DEROGATION FOR AN AUTUMN 2022 LIVE-CAPTURING

SEASON FOR SONG THRUSH AND GOLDEN PLOVER)

SUBSIDIARY LEGISLATION 549.152

CONSERVATION OF WILD BIRDS (DECLARATION

ON A DEROGATION FOR AN AUTUMN 2022 LIVE-

CAPTURING SEASON FOR SONG THRUSH AND

GOLDEN PLOVER) REGULATIONS

19th October, 2022

LEGAL NOTICE 259 of 2022.

(1)

The title of these regulations is the Conservation

of Wild Birds (Declaration on a Derogation for an Autumn 2022 Live-

capturing Season for Song Thrush and Golden Plover) Regulations.

(2)

For the purpose of these regulations and within the

meaning of Article 9 of Directive 2009/147/EC of the European

Parliament and of the Council of 30 November 2009 on the conservation

of wild birds, hereinafter referred to as the "Birds Directive", given that,

in Malta, Golden Plovers and Song Thrushes neither breed in the wild

nor in captivity, the Minister is hereby ascertaining the absence of

another satisfactory solution for the acquisition of live specimens of

these two species other than by means of live-capturing using clap-

nets, in small numbers, and insofar as it is absolutely necessary to

replenish the limited stock of live-birds in captivity for use as live-

decoys during open hunting seasons.

(3)

For the purpose of these regulations and within the

meaning of Article 9 of the Birds Directive, the Minister took into

consideration the favourable conservation status of the Golden Plover

and Song Thrush at both the European ("Stable" and "Moderate

Increase" respectively) and EU levels ("Secure"), and also took into

consideration their IUCN classification as "Least Concern" * .

The terms and expressions used in these regulations,

unless the context otherwise requires, shall have the same meaning

assigned to them in the Conservation of Wild Birds Regulations,

hereinafter referred to as the "Wild Birds Regulations", and in the

Conservation of Wild Birds (Framework for Allowing a Derogation

Opening an Autumn Live-Capturing Season for Song Thrush and

Golden Plover) Regulations.

For the purpose of these regulations, the Golden Plover

and Song Thrush are classified as non-breeding passage migrants in

Malta that qualify as huntable species under the Birds Directive (MT

*The August 2022 report on the conservation status of the Golden Plover (Pluvialis

apricaria altifrons) and Song Thrush (Turdus philomelos), is available at: https://

mgoz.gov.mt/en/Pages/WBRU/Reports%20and%20Statistics/

Other%20Reports%E2%80%8B/Other-Reports.aspx

CONSERVATION OF WILD BIRDS (DECLARATION ON A

DEROGATION FOR AN AUTUMN 2022 LIVE-CAPTURING

SEASON FOR SONG THRUSH AND GOLDEN PLOVER)

Annex II Part B). In this context, the "small numbers" requirement

within the meaning of Article 9(1)(c) of the Birds Directive shall be

understood as "a sample in the order of 1% of the total annual

mortality of the population in question". For the purpose of these

regulations, "population in question"’ shall be understood, with regard

to these migratory species, as the population of those regions within

the territory of the European Union from which come the main

contingents passing through the region to which the derogation applies

during its period of application, namely Finland and Sweden for the

Golden Plover (Wetlands International, 2009) and Romania, Bulgaria

and Hungary for the Song Thrush (Cramp et al, 1988; Spina &

Volponi, 2008), as detailed in the report on the conservation status of

the these two species, which was presented to and endorsed by the

Malta Ornis Committee in October 2022*.

The 1% of the total annual mortality of Malta’s reference

population of Golden Plover and Song Thrush shall be calculated as

follows

Golden Plover (Pluvialis apricaria altifrons)

Minimum breeding success: 3.64 birds per pair (172,089 x 3.64)

= 626,404

Mortality rate of first year birds: (626,404 x 53.33%) = 334,061

Mortality rate of adults: (344,178 x 27%) = 92,928

Total annual mortality: (334,061 + 92,928) = 426,989

1% of total annual mortality: (426,989 x 1%) = 4,270

Song Thrush (Turdus philomelos)

Minimum breeding success: 4 birds per pair (2,026,018 x 4) =

8,104,072

Mortality rate of first year birds: (8,104,072 x 56%) = 4,538,280

Mortality rate of adults: (4,052,036 x 43.3%) = 1,754,532

Total annual mortality: (4,538,280 + 1,754,532) = 6,292,812

1% of total annual mortality: (6,292,812 x 1%) = 62,928

For the purposes of establishing the season for the live-

capturing of wild birds in Autumn under paragraphs (ii) and (iii) of the

fourth proviso to regulation 10(6) of the Wild Birds Regulations, and for

the purpose of these regulations, the season for the live-capturing of

Song Thrush and Golden Plover for the year 2022, hereinafter referred

CONSERVATION OF WILD BIRDS (DECLARATION ON A

DEROGATION FOR AN AUTUMN 2022 LIVE-CAPTURING

SEASON FOR SONG THRUSH AND GOLDEN PLOVER)

to as "the Autumn live-capturing season", shall be on the following

dates

live-capturing of Song Thrush between 20 th

(a)

October 2022 and 31 st December 2022, both dates included;

and

live-capturing of Golden Plover between 1 st

(b)

November 2022 and 10 th January 2023, both dates included

Provided that the provisions of these regulations shall

cease to have effect and no live-capturing activity shall be permitted in

the event that the Minister orders, by notice in the Gazette or any other

notice, that the Autumn live-capturing season is to terminate

immediately or at a date as specified by the Minister.

For the purposes of these regulations, the Autumn live-

capturing season shall be in accordance with the provisions of the

Conservation of Wild Birds (Framework for Allowing a Derogation

Opening an Autumn Live-Capturing Season for Song Thrush and

Golden Plover), Regulations.

The Autumn live-capturing licence, which shall be

issued upon the payment of a nominal fee of fifty-five euro (€55), shall

set the overall seasonal bag limit for the Autumn live-capturing season

at five thousand (5,000) for Song Thrush, equivalent to 0.079% of the

total annual mortality of the reference population, and seven hundred

(700) for Golden Plover, equivalent to 0.164% of the total annual

mortality of the reference population, as the total number of birds

which may be captured by means of live-capturing under the authority

of all issued licences taken together.