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Sale of Mist Nets in the UK (1 Viewer)

S

steve moyes

New member
Amazon and eBay are selling mist nets to anyone who wants one, telling them they can protect their fruit trees from birds with them. In reality anyone who uses one of these nets without an appropriate licence, will be breaking the law, and birds will die in them. There is virtually no legal use for this type of nylon monofilament net in the UK. Amazon refuse to reply to emails about this matter. I want the law changed in the UK to restrict the sale to those with licences only, and I ask that all of you who are UK citizens sign and share my petition to the UK Government. We all love birds please help me protect them from the greed of these huge companies. Incredibly it is not illegal to sell or own a mist net in the UK, only to use one without a licence. https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/232710
 
Cyprus

I am certain that these nets, which are made in China to be used for taking birds to eat, are what they use in Cyprus to catch huge number of blackcap for the table. They are incredibly cheap, starting at £1.44 on Amazon. It is totally immoral to say that they are safe for birds, it is not true. Most ringers use polyester nets which are a much softer and thicker material, these nylon nets tear in to the birds' wings as they flap. The profits for Amazon and eBay from selling these nets in the UK must be tiny but are a gift for finch keepers who want to bring in new stock from the wild. The UK Government do not see it as a problem, and will do nothing until there is widespread misuse. Too late for many birds then!
 
is there any reason why members from all over the world can't sign this petition? I mean we are all bird lovers and what's best for our birdlifel
 
KC Foggin said:
is there any reason why members from all over the world can't sign this petition? I mean we are all bird lovers and what's best for our birdlifel
Click to expand...

Only UK residents / British citizens are entitled to sign these UK government petitions.
 
That's disgraceful. I appreciate (but not agree with) that use of these nets is not illegal in other countries and their sale is legitimate in such places but totally agree they should be banned for sale in the UK except to licensed ringers or other authorised users.

Petition duly signed Now at 2,631 signatures
 
2634 now.... c'mon folks, get signing! It takes less than a minute including receiving and clicking on the confirmation e-mail.

I had no idea that anyone could buy these things so cheaply - it's disgraceful. :-C:C

I am going to share the link on my FB page just in case any of my friends there will sign too.

EDIT: I have posted this on my FB page, somewhat shamelessly copying some of the OP's words. Hope it helps increase the signature numbers.

"Right [UK] friends - a serious post.
As you may or may not know, wild birds can be ringed ONLY by properly BTO [British Trust for Ornithology] trained and licensed ringers for legitimate research projects and it is against the law for anyone not so licensed to capture wild birds in the UK.
However - both Ebay and Amazon sell mist-nets to anyone at ridiculously low prices for (among other things) allegedly protecting fruit trees. In reality anyone who uses one of these nets without an appropriate licence will be breaking the law, and birds will die in them.
There is virtually no legal use for this type of nylon monofilament net in the UK. Amazon apparently refuse to respond to messages about their listings and a fellow birder has started a petition asking for the Government to look into this and (hopefully) ban such sales.
This is not how licensed ringers buy their nets and incredibly it is not illegal to sell or own a mist net in the UK, only to use one without a licence.

Please, please take a minute or so to sign the petition and potentially help to save our birds. Thank you."

Can we all share this to our respective socail media sites? :)
 
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KC Foggin said:
is there any reason why members from all over the world can't sign this petition? I mean we are all bird lovers and what's best for our birdlifel
Click to expand...

Totally agree, we should all sign these things, not just this one, as par for the course.......

Ebay are a disgrace with all the other wildlife products they allow to be sold.
 
I signed, but the petition could be worded a little stronger to emphasize the illegality of using such nets.

Instead of:
Mist nets are being sold as anti bird netting online. These will trap birds which will die if not released, or be injured by untrained persons trying to release them. The nets cost from £1.44. At present it is not illegal to sell or own a mist net, but it is illegal to operate one without a licence.

Something like:

For good reason, it is illegal in the UK to use a mist net without license. Designed specifically to catch wild birds, misuse of such mist nets not only leads to death of birds in nets if not released and potential injury of birds by untrained persons trying to release them, but also fuels illegal trapping of wild birds, widespread in some areas of Europe. At present, it is not illegal to sell or own these nets, despite the fact it is illegal to use them without license. Being sold as anti bird netting online without any indication of the illegality of using the nets, and costing from less than £2, we ask the government to ban the sale of mist nets to persons without appropriate license.
 
But I believe the UK government is a little busy at present, the evils of eBay are probably not too high on its priorities. Especially when a mere 2600 persons have signed ...come on folk, sign up.
 
Signed
I've often wondered when something like this would come up. With so many people who have come in to the UK from Europe where hunting is widespread I felt it was only a matter of time when some would revert to their 'heritage' customs and start preying on our birds as well.
 
Stevie babe said:
Signed
I've often wondered when something like this would come up. With so many people who have come in to the UK from Europe where hunting is widespread I felt it was only a matter of time when some would revert to their 'heritage' customs and start preying on our birds as well.
Click to expand...

Which parts of Europe are you referring to? As far as I am aware, the main areas that hunting of small passerines occurs is the Mediterranean area (Malta, Cyprus, etc), while the 'so many people who have come into the UK' are primarily from Eastern Europe, especially Poland and Lithuania. There is no heritage custom of hunting of passerines in these countries - and, in Lithuania at least, there is zero widespread use of nets to kill birds. It would be illegal and would quickly be reported to the police.
 
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Jos,
I recall the French consider Ortolan bunting as a delicacy and Italians also eat small birds in some regions for the same reason.
I appreciate you prefer threads to remain on the title so I will leave it there.
Regards,
P
 
Stevie babe said:
Signed
I've often wondered when something like this would come up. With so many people who have come in to the UK from Europe where hunting is widespread I felt it was only a matter of time when some would revert to their 'heritage' customs and start preying on our birds as well.
Click to expand...

Lucky I didn't say that cos everyone knows I'm a racist and a xenophobe despite being married to a Russian.

Must admit thout, apart from examples given by Pat, not sure it really happens in Europe. I think that the nest are being sold as screeni9ng for crops but their design means that birds get stuck in them and die. Malta is bad but they use lime I believe?
 
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andyadcock said:
Must admit thout, apart from examples given by Pat, not sure it really happens in Europe....
Click to expand...

Was my point, illegal use of mist nets is not a 'heritage custom' in the countries where the bulk of EU immigrants come from - I think we can all agree the sale of mist nets is a bad idea, no need to dilute the issue.
 
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