Fish farms, tourism and diving

We have been hearing and reading a great deal about fish farming and its effects on the dwindling diving and tourist industry. The more that is written the more confused one becomes. Take for example the article by Martin Vella about the effects of fish farming on the diving industry (August 18) and the reply by Robert Aquilina, managing director of the fish farms in St Paul's Bay (September 15).On reading both letters, one gets the impression that both gentlemen are saying the truth. But there can only be one truth especially when the issues brought across by each correspondent are conflictingly opposite to each other.

I am by no means a judge to determine who is saying the truth, but having been a permanent summer resident in the Xemxija/Qawra area for the last 20 odd years I can definitely say that since the setting up of the fish farm complex there were noticeable sea changes in the St Paul's Bay area. Those who, like me, used to enjoy a swim in the clear blue waters off St Paul's islands cannot do the same now because invariably the water quality there is bad. At times the water is murky grey and the sea bottom, a few metres out from the shore, cannot be seen due to the bad visibility.

No matter how hard the operators of the fish farms try to blind us with scientific data about the good quality of the water, they will not convince anyone because when the sea conditions are bad everyone can see it.

Before the fish farms came along, ordinary people used to fish just off St Paul's islands and the amount of fish that used to be caught in a short time was incredible. I remember when my children were young we used to fill buckets with fish in no time from that area. Nowadays the people who remember the good old times do not even bother to fish there because it is a waste of time; you hardly catch or see any fish in that area.

Before the introduction of the fish farms, Mistra Bay used to be so quiet and serene that at times you used to be afraid amid all that tranquillity and peaceful surroundings. Today it is quite the opposite, there are ugly seacraft that transport the food (and what have you) between the shore depot and the fish farms. They seem to be always on the go, creating waves and noise as they go about their business all day long. At times they make the place resembling a dock area rather than a tourist area.

And what about those two ships that seem to have a permanent berth in this beautiful bay? Apparently they belong to another fish farm just off St Paul's islands. When the sea is a bit rough they come inside the bay for shelter but they still carry on with their work and invariably discharge an oily sleek into the sea as can be seen from the attached photograph.

I talk to many other local residents and they all seem to have noticed the same observations, so how come that the authorities concerned do not notice these things? These changes are there for all to see, that is, for those who do not want to turn a blind eye. Are the authorities blind or asleep? When are they going to shift these farms to a more suitable place? Are we going to see them there again next summer? The authorities have promised to shift all fish farms from their present location more than two years ago. So what is causing the delay? Perhaps they are waiting for all the tourists to disappear, or for Mistra to change its name to Menqa or, who knows, perhaps when the sea runs completely dry? Sounds very risky to me!