Ivan Camilleri
Malta may have a fight on its hands over tuna fishing
Tuna fishery has an export value of about €100 million a year.
Malta is getting ready to oppose a possible EU proposal to ban the international trade of bluefin tuna as it would deal a blow to the lucrative multi-million euro industry and have a devastating effect on the livelihood of hundreds of fishermen.
The European Commission's position had not yet been finalised and could change in the coming weeks, a senior government spokesman said.
But Malta would object to such a proposal because it could not afford to lose a thriving industry with an export value of about €100 million a year, the spokesman said.
"The information we have is that the Commission's proposal is still being formulated and nothing is confirmed yet. Various Commission directorates do not agree with the position adopted by the Environment Directorate to take a bold decision to ban tuna trade," the spokesman said.
Malta was closely following the developments in Brussels and was already formulating its own position through the fisheries department and the planning authority, which is responsible for the international convention on endangered species.
The Commission is internally discussing a proposal for a joint position to be adopted by the EU at a meeting of the General Assembly of the UN Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, better known as CITES, to be held in Doha next March.
An internal report drawn up by the Environment Directorate is suggesting that, due to the pressure on bluefin tuna and scientific evidence that the fishery might collapse in a few years, the EU should support a call to include the species in Annex I of the CITES Convention to give it the highest protection.
This would mean fishermen would not be able to sell the fish on the international market, although they would continue to sell it on the home market. This would remove the main cause of the overfishing due to the huge demand for sushi and sashimi in countries such as Japan.
This position has already attracted the open support of France, a major player in the Mediterranean bluefin industry and other EU countries including Germany, the UK, the Netherlands and Austria. On the other hand, Malta, Italy and Spain are expected to oppose the proposal.
"We can confirm there is an internal proposal for a total ban but we wish to underline that the Commission has not yet taken a final position. We are still drawing up reports with various other options and the Commission is only expected to come out with its final proposal in autumn," a Commission official said.
"At the end of the day, the Commission's proposal will have to be approved by a majority of member states to become the EU's official position and we are quite far from that," he added.
Bluefin tuna fishing has been a contentious issue in the EU's fishing policy for the past years as scientific evidence showed the fishery was experiencing heavy shortfalls due to overfishing and rogue law enforcement.
Pro-environment NGOs, including Greenpeace and WWF, have been waging a war against the Commission to pile pressure for a total ban of the fishery. However, the Commission has so far taken a more lenient approach, introducing more controls as part of a four-year recovery plan.
Malta has been targeted as one of the major players in the industry by NGOs claiming the island has the largest tuna fattening ranches in the world.
According to Carmel Agius, technical consultant of the Federation of Maltese Aquaculture Producers, the industry in Malta employs about 1,000 full-timers and accounts for 85 per cent of Maltese fisheries exports.
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Mark Cassar
Aug 26th 2009, 22:20
The key word in most environmental issues - including those dealing with fishing or more appropriately OVERFISHING as is the case in Malta - is SUSTAINABILITY. Once the fish stock has been depleted the fisherman will still have to look for alternative employment in a few years time anyway. The short-term gain of a few, will mean the long-term loss of many others as well as the continued eradication of the marine environment. When will the politicians ever get to grips with this scientific principle? However I suppose that goes beyond their capabilities; which usually deals with the number of votes they can obtain at the next election, and not how our country can be governed in a truly responsible manner.
alfred falzon
Aug 26th 2009, 18:59
who is making the profit from the 85% of Malta's fish exports? Is govt being compensated for the loss of summer tourism due to sea pollution resulting from these fish farms? Tourists are being advised not to frequent the sea shore between Marsascala and Delimara
J.Bonnici
Aug 26th 2009, 15:04
The European Commision is totally in the right on this point while the Maltese government's arguments are utterly puerile and lacking in vision.
If tuna fishing is not going to be curbed right now it will be the end of the industry for ALL the stakeholders.
Michael Parlato Trigona
Aug 26th 2009, 12:58
In the words of Pope Benedict: “The destruction of the environment, its improper or selfish use, and the violent hoarding of the earth's resources cause grievances, conflicts and wars, precisely because they are the consequences of an inhumane concept of development”
In the words of Al Gore, 2007 Nobel Peace Prize winner: “Our ability to live is what is at stake”
Michael Parlato Trigona
Aug 26th 2009, 12:57
PART 2:
If this thriving industry with an export value of about €100 million, then the same industry that is reaping all the short-term benefits should do its utmost to carry out research and protect the very resource that it depends upon and most certainly not pass all the cost onto the environment and future generations.
Now for those of us who claim to be Christians (and this is a self criticism as I place myself amongst the ranks), apart from pursuing a totally flawed economic policy and reasoning, an activity which leads to extinction of a species or any environmental degradation for that matter, is not only wrong but has also been branded as a SIN by several Christian leaders of different denominations, including the Catholic Church and the Orthodox. We must realise that we are morally obliged to act as steward to God’s magnificent creation for the sake of creation itself as well as for the impacts that our actions have on other communities’ opportunity to meet their own needs.
Michael Parlato Trigona
Aug 26th 2009, 12:55
PART 1:
The title of this article seems to imply that the reader should feel duty-bound to support ‘Malta’ in its fight against a total ban on blufin tuna fishing, when in effect the ban (if put in place) is actually there to avoid the complete obliteration of a species and the consequential domino effect of others. In addition the ban is not being put in place by ‘environmental extremists’ but rather by an extremely bureaucratic organisation that all too often is renowned for dragging its feet on such matters, so if they are proposing it then rest assured that it is already almost too late!
What surprises me even more is the seriously confused and egocentric rationale, of arguing in favour of the perseverance of such destructive activities, on the basis of income and job loss when (if we had to temporarily, for the sake of argument put the only true concern aside – EXTINCTION) such loss is inevitable if the tuna become extinct.
albert spiteri
Aug 26th 2009, 10:47
THE SOONER THE BETTER! THIS SEEMS TO BE THE ONLY WAY OF GETTING RID OF THE WIDELY HATED AND HIGHLY POLUTING FISH FARMS FROM OUR WATERS. GONZIPN GOVERNMENT DID NOT EVEN SHY A WINK WHEN PUTTING ON REDUNDANCY SOME 2OOO DOCK WORKERS AND WHEN IT WENT INTO BETTING OVER THE CLOSURE OF OUR ENTIRE TEXTILE INDUSTRY WITH THE RESULTING LOSS OF OVER 6000 JOBS - WITHOUT EVEN THE BLINK OF AN EYE.
HOW CAN GONZIPN EXPECT OUR BACKING AND SUPPORT OVER ITS RIDICULOUS DEFENCE OF THESE TUNA FARMS THAT NOBODY CARES ABOUT AND EVERYBODY WANTS TO GET RID OF? GONZIPN IS INCREDIBLE WHEN IT COMES OUT WITH ALL THAT TALK AND CROC-TEARS ABOUT THE LOSS OF OUR TUNA EXPORT INDUSTRY AND THE FANTASTIC EXAGERATION OF 1000 JOBS. GONZIPN'S WORRIES DO EXIST, BUT THEY HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH LOSS OF JOBS OR THE KILLING OF AN INDUSTRY.
MAY THE EU COME UP WITH SUCH LEGISLATION - THE SOONER THE BETTER!