Talks with EU to fund fishermen aid scheme

A Lm2.4 million assistance scheme for fishermen was being financed by the government but talks continued with the European Union on the possibility of the EU footing part or all of the bill, Fisheries Minister Ninu Zammit said yesterday.

Addressing a Foreign Affairs Committee meeting, which discussed the state of negotiations between Malta and the EU on the fisheries sector, Mr Zammit said Malta had requested that, for conservation reasons, the 25-nautical mile zone around the island would be declared a special zone and enjoy particular conditions.

Malta submitted the results of research and scientific studies which led the European Commission to accept its request and to recommend that certain conditions would apply for the zone in question for reasons of conservation and sustainable fishing.

This meant, Mr Zammit said that the fishing effort could not increase more than it had done in the past years.

The fundamental principle was that within the zone, fishing would only be carried out by boats which were not longer than 12 metres, with a few exceptions. Only Maltese boats would be able to fish in the first 12 mile zone; trawlers between 12 and 24 metres with engines under 250hp would be able to trawl within the zone and those shorter than 24 metres but with an engine exceeding 250hp would only be able to fish in depths of 200 metres within the zone.

As trawlers longer than 24 metres would not be able to fish in the 25 mile zone any longer, Maltese trawlers of this size would, through the assistance scheme, be getting between Lm20,000 and Lm50,000 each in order to upgrade. There were only about three Maltese trawlers of this size.

Mr Zammit said that over 80 per cent of the fish catch came from outside the 25-mile zone.

In line with the agreement reached with the EU, the total number of trawlers in the zone should not have an aggregate fishing effort larger than the prevailing one, drift nets could not be used in the zone and only the 130 established lampuki lampadi could be used.

Mr Zammit said that only an average of 110 of the 130 established lampadi were being utilised by Maltese fishermen as the other 20 were not located in a good fishing zone.

So long as Maltese fishermen did not apply for these lampadi, they could be allocated to EU fishermen if they applied.

Fisheries director Anthony Gruppetta pointed out that this year only 98 applications had been filed for the lampadi.

Labour MP George Vella pointed out that even if fewer Maltese fishermen applied for the lampadi these could be handed over to foreigners on a non-discriminatory basis.

He said the agreement Malta reached with the EU had not been struck with fishermen and the National Fisheries Cooperative had written to the ministry to say it would never accept that its members' vessels longer than 12 metres would only be allowed to fish within the 25-mile zone.

Dr Vella criticised the government for giving up 13 nautical miles of the 25 mile zone that used to belong to Malta. Foreign trawlers between 12 and 24 metres long and which fitted the restrictions imposed could fish inside the zone for the first time in 30 years.

He pointed out that about 55 of the 314 full-time fleet were over 12 metres long and this was a high percentage. Maltese fishermen, he said, were being denied a zone which was theirs.

Dr Vella said the minister's declaration that most of Malta's catch came from outside the 25-mile zone was untrue and fishermen could confirm this. "They all laughed when they heard such a statement," he said.