A highly innovative marine tourist attraction out at sea is being proposed by a group of investors who include an operator in the fish farming industry, a hotelier and members of the diving community.

The attraction, which is to be called Marine Adventure Park, would enable divers to swim with fish in an "aquarium" nearly the size of a football pitch that would be situated a kilometre off Ras il-Griebeg, outside Mellieha Bay.

It would have two enclosures, one for scuba divers pegged to the seabed at 30 metres and a floating one, eight metres deep for snorklers.

The park would have nets as in a fish farm. But that's where the similarity ends as otherwise it would be managed like one of the big marine aquariums turned into a dive site. It will offer an experience both to scuba divers and snorklers not found anywhere else in the Mediterranean.

The fish, unprotected species and harmless to humans, which would be obtained alive and in good condition from fishermen, would be given a new lease of life and become immediate star attractions in the Marine Adventure Park. Otherwise they would be destined for the fish market.

"Instead of looking in as one does outside an aquarium, one snorkels and scuba dives among the fish and in many ways interacts with them.

"Coming face to face with these creatures of the deep is becoming a very rare encounter," said a spokesman for Marine Adventure Park project.

The fish will either be hand fed with appropriate food or help themselves from feeding stations. Small fish can freely enter or exit the enclosures. Having total control on feeding is a most important aspect of this project.

To get an idea of the size of the park, suffice to mention that Monterey Bay aquarium in the US has a capacity of five million gallons of water, while the bigger enclosure of the two to be called Atlantis would have 47 million gallons.

The area the investors are looking at has a sandy bottom with some isolated patches of posedonia or sea grass which is important as it aerates the water and shelters the small fry.

To create a rock structure for fish to hide in - some fish such as groupers and other bottom dwelling fish require this kind of habitat - a concrete replica of a megalithic temple will double as an artificial reef to be placed on a sandy patch.

Another "reef" placed on a separate patch of sand within the pegged enclosure would be a copy of the Roman vessel on which St Paul was shipwrecked, regarded as the Holy Grail of all shipwrecks. The vessel in skeleton form would come laden with terracotta Roman replica amphorae also ideal for fish seeking shelter and a home.

About Lm300,000 would be needed to launch the project which is completely reversible should it be terminated, leaving no impact on the marine environment whatsoever. The park will also require some Lm100,000 annually to maintain its exhibits.

"In the Atlantis enclosure, sunfish, rays, groupers, sea hounds, dog fish, angel shark, tuna, lampuki and other both pelagic and bottom dwelling fish will be in the list of attractions," the spokesman said.

In the smaller enclosure to be called Marine World, smaller fish will be kept mainly for snorkelling activities but rod fishing would occasionally be promoted mainly for tourists using barbless hooks on a catch-and-release basis only.

There will not be a large quantity of fish inside these enclosures but a healthy and interesting variety. The park will adopt a Noah's Ark approach, based on established criteria as applied in the large land-based marine aquariums found overseas.

A full development application has been submitted to the Malta Environment and Planning Authority.

The Malta Marine Foundation, formed by members of the diving community including dive centres, clubs and photographers, is supporting the project.

The foundation is interested in creating and enhancing dive sites. Details are available at www.marinefoundation.org for public scrutiny and comments.

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