Agriculture and Fisheries Minister Ninu Zammit yesterday urged Maltese tuna fishermen to equip themselves in the same way as foreign fishermen, who, he said, used better boats, nets and gear.
"In order to compete, our fishermen need to pool their resources and use the same sort of fishing gear used by foreign fishermen or even better."
Speaking in parliament, the minister said that arrangements made between Maltese and Italian fishermen's cooperatives had this year prevented any clashes between fishermen on fishing grounds. Incidents which had taken place this year involved damage caused to Maltese fishing lines by foreign tug boats towing tuna cages. However compensation had been agreed in most of those cases and talks in the remaining cases were continuing.
The minister was speaking during the debate on an opposition motion which expressed solidarity with tuna fishermen following what it said were clashes with foreign fishermen earlier this month. The motion condemned the incidents and called on the government to take whatever measures were necessary to protect the fishermen and safeguard their rights.
Mr Zammit said everyone agreed that solidarity should be shown with the fishermen. Everybody also agreed that the fisheries sector needed to be strengthened further and made more sustainable.
Although he agreed with the spirit of the opposition's motion, he disagreed with its wording. The motion spoke about clashes between fishermen and about foreign fishermen having sought to hinder Maltese fishermen. This was not correct. What had happened was that Maltese fishermen's lines were cut by foreign tug boat operators engaged to tow tuna cages. Although there had been 29 incidents this year, none involved clashes between Maltese and foreign fishermen.
Many of the problems encountered last year had been solved following talks between Maltese and Italian fishermen's cooperatives. It had been agreed that whenever damage was caused, compensation would be paid by the responsible party. Indeed, agreement had been reached in most of the cases reported so far, and talks on the pending cases were continuing.
The cooperatives had also reached agreements to supply tuna to the operators of tuna farms.
Compared to last year, the situation this year was relatively calm. Rather than a so-called tuna war, the Salerno fishermen's cooperative on the advice of Maltese fishermen had even chartered three Maltese boats to supervise the towing of the cages and guide the tug boats to avoid the Maltese fishermen's lines.
Mr Zammit said tuna catches were poor this year for all fishermen, Maltese or otherwise, for various reasons including reasons of sea temperature. The tuna had unexpectedly migrated to new areas away from the normal fishing grounds.
Mr Zammit referred to the current controversy over fishing in the area 25 miles around Malta. He said the closest point for tuna fishing was actually 60 miles south-west of Malta, followed by an area 120 miles south of Malta.
The minister said it was clear that Maltese fishermen needed to modernise their operations, particularly in view of the modern equipment used by foreign tuna fishermen. If local fishermen wanted to compete with foreign fishermen, they should equip themselves with the same sort of equipment their competitors used, including the same sort of boats, nets and tackle.
Maltese fishermen had an international tuna fishing quota of 300 tons of tuna. Like the Salerno fishermen, Maltese fishermen too should group their resources in a cooperative for tuna fishing so that they could be better able to compete with foreigners in catching and selling tuna.
Mr Zammit said the Maltese way of fishing, using konzijiet was not selective and caught a variety of fish along with tuna. Indeed, using tuna nets was more selective.
The minister said fishermen needed to be helped in practice, and that was what the government was doing. It had negotiated with the EU whereby over a period of three years barriers for the export of fish from fish farms and from catches would be completely lifted. Up to last year such fish exports to Europe had carried a 15 per cent duty.
The government had just announced a Lm2.5 million programme of financial aid to fishermen and it was also supplying diesel to fishermen duty free.
Mr Zammit gave details of the agreement reached with the EU whereby the 25-mile zone around Malta would be administered by Malta and said the total fishing effort within it could not exceed present levels.
It had to be said, however, that 80 per cent of catches landed in Malta came from outside this zone.
Concluding, Mr Zammit moved an amendment to the motion replacing the text prepared by the opposition and welcomed the government's efforts to guarantee and improve the standard of living of Maltese fishermen, particularly following the arrangements reached with the EU.
It expressed confidence in the capabilities of Malta's fishermen to overcome any challenges of the future and said fishermen should continue to be assisted, such as through the provision of duty-free fuel, assistance for the modernisation of fishing operations and action to make the sector more competitive, such as what had been achieved through the lifting of EU import tariffs on Maltese fish exports.
Concluding, Mr Zammit said the Maltese fishing industry needed to continue to be assisted through long-term planning which was taken out of political controversy.
Nationalist MP Jason Azzopardi said the government viewed challenges as opportunities. It believed in assisting fishermen, without pampering them. He praised the EU's Common Fisheries Policy for seeking to protect fishing stocks while providing markets for fishermen.
Dr Azzopardi said the arrangements reached with the EU meant international recognition of Malta's 25-mile fishing zone when, to date, the declaration of that zone had only been a unilateral move.