Fish farms seen harming dive tourism

The damage being caused to the sea by fish farms and tuna pens is incredible, Alex Buttigieg, who is in charge of diving at the Octopus Garden Dive Centre, in St Paul's Bay, said yesterday.

"It is a pity that the government cannot see what's happening under the sea. I am offering to teach ministers and MPs how to dive and take them to see for themselves the extent of this damage and the harm these farms are inflicting on dive tourism."

Mr Buttigieg said the company he works for has been experiencing a dramatic dive in bookings for the past three years, with this year registering a drop of 70 per cent.

He blames this on a number of factors. One is that their main market is Germany, which is experiencing an economic downturn. The second factor is that direct flights to Malta from Germany were being re-routed via a number of cities, making the price of the flights exorbitant and, thirdly, the quality of the dive product is not what it used to be.

"Through the waste generated by the tuna pens off Qawra, the fish life on the reef close by is disappearing at an alarming rate. Since three years ago, the visibility has deteriorated badly falling from 50 metres to 10.

"On the other hand, the sea by St Paul's islands where fish farms are sited and which used to be 22 metres deep is now only 15 metres deep because of the build-up of sludge.

"The visibility there used to be about 58 metres but now it is down to 25 metres.

"Dive centres complain regularly about this negative impact but the authorities take no notice," he claimed.

While fish farms and tuna pens in other countries were way out in the open sea, here they were inside bays where the possibility of the dispersal of waste and the feed that is not consumed by the fish ends up fouling the seabed and discolouring the sea, Mr Buttigieg said.

He is in favour of asking dive tourists for a donation to go towards the enhancement of the dive product but first the country has to do its utmost to upgrade that product. "I cannot ask clients for a donation for this purpose if divers are taken to sites that are devoid of fish life or are filthy with waste from fish farms and the sea is smeared by a slick of tuna oil.

"The country has to show first it is taking the steps to improve the quality of its product," Mr Buttigieg said.

George Vella, managing director of Calypso Diving Centre in Marsalforn, who has been in business for the past 20 years, said there are far too many dive centres for all of them to survive because the demand rate is not growing enough to meet the existing supply.

He said he had registered a drop in business ratio-wise. "But what bothers me most is the quality of our product, which is sliding.

"Other destinations strive to maintain a cutting edge faced by cut-throat competition, particularly by other Mediterranean centres, especially in countries with lower labour costs.

"I tend to put my feet in the shoes of the client and ask: Where would I go especially if I had a limited budget or I could make a saving?," Mr Vella added.

He explained that a lot can be done to improve the product, including the creation of artificial reefs in the form of wrecks - which deep sea diver and documentary maker Emi Farrugia has been campaigning for - and clean up the sea regularly.

Mr Farrugia is lobbying for the setting up of a marine foundation whose brief would include taking care of dive sites.

Mr Vella said another enhancement would be the provision of adequate access points to dive in and come out of the water, something which often takes years to achieve because of excessive bureaucracy in government departments.

"If a diver injures himself while entering the water because of inadequate access, it would not be fair on him because the injury would spoil his holiday and, secondly, it would give Malta a bad name.

"Another recurring problem is spear fishing with the aid of compressed air cylinders. A couple of weeks ago while diving with a group at Ras ir-Reqqa, one of the best diving sites in Gozo, we came across spear fishermen. Such activities are not compatible with the diving industry and should be banned outright. Dive tourists often complain that they are not prepared to dive in the same place that allows this type of fishing.

"Every time I campaigned against this practice, irrespective of who the Minister of Tourism was and which government was in office, nobody did anything to outlaw this practice.

"Likewise, nets are often laid across bays or over the mouth of caves, trapping anything that tries to swim by," Mr Vella said.

He said he agreed with Mr Farrugia that a marine foundation should be set up. This would be able to raise money from visiting divers. However, he believes the authorities should show the way forward and take the first steps.

"The country ought to show these tourists that it cares about them and is doing its utmost to improve the product in all its aspects.

"The money collected by the marine foundation would be invested in the product. The country has first to improve the product and then the foundation would be able to ask visitors for a financial contribution to further enhance the product," Mr Vella explained.

Mr Farrugia feels that one of the ways forward would be to earmark the showcase dive sites and prohibit any form of fishing in them. Backing this appeal, Mr Vella added: "Spear fishing is not an industry, dive tourism is. Therefore dive sites should be fishing-free and fines for those breaking regulations by fishing illegally should be hard-hitting".

Mario Attard, director of the Malta Tourism Authority's product planning and development directorate, said when contacted that his directorate acts as a catalyst for initiatives each sector of the tourism industry takes up.

The MTA had last year assisted in the drawing up of diving regulations, which never existed in Malta before.

"These regulations are unique to the Mediterranean in the sense that they incorporate certain detail and standards that other destinations have not taken up. They are a potential marketing tool for marketing dive tourism," Mr Attard added.

The MTA holds regular meetings with the Professional Diving Schools Association in a bid to organise the sector according to classification and standards.

At the moment, the MTA is finalising details with the Malta Standards Authority in order to be able to certify the equipment used by the dive centres on a yearly basis.

Mr Attard said the MTA holds regular monthly meetings with the Malta Environment and Planning Authority and has a working arrangement whereby Mepa will not consider developments that are not recommended by the MTA.

"The MTA has allocated a budget for the setting up of a foundation of dive centres but it is still awaiting the foundation to start functioning. The MTA is considering what to do with this budget allocation. We mean business and cannot wait any longer.

"We welcome the setting up of the foundation but can we afford to wait until this comes to pass? There is definitely a limit to consultation and to feedback," Mr Attard said.