Editorial

One gets the feeling that the issue over clashes between Maltese and Tunisian fishermen in international waters is being taken too lightly. Clashes this year have taken place between fishermen fishing for lampuki between 40 miles and 90 miles west of Malta.

According to the National Fisheries Cooperative, Tunisian fishermen were taking away fish from under the floats of Gozitan fishermen and they were then vandalising the floats and setting them adrift, causing damages amounting to hundreds of liri.

At one time it was claimed that Tunisian fishermen had driven their boats directly at the Gozitan fishermen. According to the cooperative, such incidents had been going on for five years.

Agriculture and Fisheries Minister Ninu Zammit, replying to parliamentary questions, said there had been two occasions last month when Gozitan fishermen requested help and when an AFM aircraft had to be dispatched to investigate.

He said that as early as August 23, the Director of Fisheries had written to his Tunisian counterpart suggesting ways how clashes between the fishermen of the two countries could be avoided, but there had been no reaction from the Tunisian authorities.

Indeed, rather surprisingly, the Tunisian ambassador to Malta, Abdessalem Hetira, said after a meeting with the President last week that he had only learned about the problem from the media. He said he immediately contacted the authorities in Tunisia and a preliminary investigation was launched.

Having met Maltese fishermen a few days previously after a protest, the ambassador said he was awaiting further evidence of the incidents from the Gozitans before further investigations could be held. The ambassador said an investigation launched last year had not yet been officially concluded, but in what amounts to an admission of responsibility, he was reported saying that the Tunisian fishermen involved had been warned their licence would be withdrawn "if they continued to flout the law."

Considering the fact that the matter concerns the livelihood of a good number of Gozitan fishermen, one would have hoped that the Tunisian authorities would have tackled the issue more forcefully, particularly as the matter was also raised in the high-level talks which Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami had in Tunis just a few months ago.

The minister told parliament that Malta's fishermen had even been prepared to show the Tunisians their fishing methods, using kannizzati so that they could hopefully be left to their work undisturbed. The Tunisians use different methods. It is both sad and regrettable that the island's efforts to settle the matter have so far met with such cool reception from the Tunisian authorities. On his part, the Tunisian ambassador is hopeful that a solution would be found.

In a sea which has enough problems as it is over fishing, caused mostly by well-equipped fishermen from outside the region, it makes common sense for countries in the region to work together in the interests of the livelihood, and safety, of their fishermen. Perhaps patrol vessels from both countries could work together in surveillance work until the situation stabilises to the satisfaction of all the parties involved.