Marsascala shop owners appeal fish zone ruling

The Marsascala Shop Owners' Association and the Chamber of Small and Medium Enterprise - GRTU are appealing the Malta Environment and Planning Authority's decision which approved an aquaculture zone six kilometres off Marsascala.

The Fisheries Conservation and Control Division, which applied for the zone and will be issuing licenses for private operators, was granted permission by Mepa just before Christmas.

Besides seeing the relocation of two blue fin tuna fattening farms presently operating about one kilometre away from the shore, the zone is set to attract other operators bringing up the zone's capacity to a total 9,000 tonnes of tuna which is sold to Japanese firms.

In a letter signed by lawyer Ian Refalo and sent to Mepa on January 10, the association claimed the procedure adopted in granting permission had been "irregular", arguing that the proposal's lack of information violated the objectors' right to know all details related to the project.

The organisations said the permit had been issued before a strategic environment assessment, contemplated in European Union law but not part of Maltese law yet, had been made before permission was granted.

"In giving permission to the development, Mepa delegated it authority to the Director of Fisheries in a way that issues which should have been stipulated in the permit are being left to the discretion of the director," they said, adding that this was prejudicial in their regard.

The Marsascala shop owners and the GRTU said the zone would have adverse impacts on their business, particularly because the environment impact statement had failed to indicate where the land base of the fish farms would be and where the vessels servicing the farms would be moored.

Another objection raised was that the zone would render other projects planned for Marsascala, such as a yacht marina, unfeasible.

Earlier this month, the Marsascala local council also appealed from the decision arguing that the project, catering for half the quota for the Mediterranean, would have a negative impact on the locality.

The council said tourism would suffer an irreversible blow and that Marsascala could lose the Blue Flag status of its beaches.