Sicilian fishermen want larger fishing zone

Sicilian fishermen are planning to lobby Italian authorities and the country's European parliamentarians to iron out discrepancies between the fishing areas allotted to Malta and Sicily.

Nello Maialino, a representative of the Portopalo fishermen, said it was ironic that Malta had a 25-mile fishing zone when Sicily, with nearly three times the number of registered fishing vessels, had a mere 12-mile zone.

Mr Maialino said the fishing zone should be distributed according to the fishing fleet and according to the size of the islands.

"Just 12 miles is far too little for all Portopalo's fishing community that depends on the trade for their livelihood. There are 600 families out of a total of 3,000 inhabitants who depend on fishing. We want the fishing zone to be split equally or according to the fleet or the size of land," he said.

Mr Maialino was in Malta to follow the case against the master of a Sicilian vessel that was caught fishing illegally in Malta's zone. The Maria Salvatrice was caught trawling 18 miles off Malta. The master was yesterday fined €35,000 (see page ??).

On the incident, Mr Maialino said the "offence (of fishing in another country's fishing zone) did not merit the captain's arrest. In Italy, they wouldn't have arrested the Maltese captain".

However, he expressed his gratitude and that of Sicilian fishermen to the Maltese authorities, especially the police and the armed forces, for the way they treated the crew members.

While the captain spent a few days in jail, pending the criminal proceedings, the other three crew members remained on the boat and were "well taken care of" every day.

He also thanked the lawyers, the Fisheries Department and all those involved in efforts to keep the fine closer to the minimum than the maximum, which would have otherwise reached the €116,000 mark.

Police sources confirmed that the Maria Salvatrice was not alone when it was caught and there were another four Sicilian fishing vessels. Although they were not apprehended because they cut their lines and fled, the police have the vessels' details.

The sources said the police could not issue a warrant against the ships' captains through Interpol because the punishment for the crime they allegedly committed did not involve a jail term but just a fine.

Mr Maialino was also asked about the incident involving a Maltese fishing vessel in Portopalo, which was not allowed to leave the Sicilian port because it lacked basic health and safety equipment.

He insisted this had nothing to do with any diplomatic incidents between Italy and Malta and was certainly not in retaliation to the fact that the Italian boat had been apprehended here.

Mr Maialino confirmed that there had been an informal boycott by Italian fishmongers who were not purchasing stock from Maltese fishermen since the Sicilian vessel was apprehended. But this was lifted once the issue was resolved.

"For Italy, Malta is not an enemy but an ally," he insisted.