Brussels accepts changes proposed by Malta

The European Commission has accepted the government's proposed amendments for provisional tuna quotas, according to the Environment Ministry.

The final document, including the proposals, was unanimously agreed to at the end of a meeting of the Fisheries Ministers' Council in Brussels late on Wednesday night.

Represented by Environment Minister George Pullicino, Malta insisted on the need to continue protecting its tuna fishing interests.

The EU ministers' deal on 2007 fishing quotas was aimed at helping depleted stocks recover. They agreed a series of concessions including a 14 per cent cut in the North Sea cod catch, down from an original proposal by Brussels of a 25 per cent cut.

The ministers also agreed to a cut of roughly 10 per cent in the catch of bluefin tuna in the Mediterranean but talks on the EU's share of the catch would be left until the end of January during a meeting in Tokyo.

The meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas will in fact serve to distribute the 29,500 tons of tuna catch between member states. After this meeting, the countries involved in tuna fishing - France, Spain, Italy, Greece, Portugal, Cyprus and Malta - will decide on a quota. Maltese fishermen are insisting they should not suffer any cuts in their current tuna quota of 344 tons a year.

EU Fisheries Commissioner Joe Borg said the Commission was trying to balance the need to rebuild depleted fish stocks with the needs of those whose livelihoods depended on fishing.

Malta had maintained that it was prepared to consider a partial quota on tuna fishing if the island's historical reference is acknowledged and included in the total European catch. The government also insisted that the partial quotas should not be used as reference for the final allocation between member states.

Mr Pullicino reiterated the government's commitment to safeguard the interests of Maltese fishermen and especially tuna fishing, which accounts to a third of all the local fishermen's catches.

The minister thanked his European colleagues, Dr Borg and other member states for recognising the importance of the amendments proposed by Malta.