Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi has promised that all documentation in connection with fish-farms, including reports on aquaculture zone, would be published on the Mepa website.

At the end of yesterday's question time, he said the government had nothing to hide and all it wanted was transparency.

Resource Minister George Pullicino said the strategic plan for the acquaculture zones - one in the south and one in the north -would be ready by the end of the year.

Fish farms were regulated by a number of entities, including the Agriculture and Fisheries Regulation Division, the Malta Maritime Authority, Mepa and also by recommendations made by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT).

Mr Pullicino indicated that the aquaculture zone, or more appropriately the mariculture zone, in the south had been regulated by a Mepa permit which was then annulled upon appeal. The procedure for the issue of the permit is again underway. Despite the annulment of the original permit, two fish farms were still situated on the site aimed for this mariculture zone as their relocation to the site which they previously occupied was closer to the coast. The south mariculture zone foresaw a permit for the farming of nine tonnes of tuna, with each area within the zone having a maximum capacity of 1.5 tonnes.

The government was also preparing a strategic plan for aquaculture that would regulate not only the farming of tuna but also of three other fish species farmed in Malta.

The monitoring of environment impact of such farms on the seabed is carried out at the expense of the operator. However, the report would be analysed by Mepa.