Video: AFM stops Greenpeace action on tuna cage

(Adds government, AFM + FMAP statements)

Greenpeace activists today spent two hours engaged in "non-violent" direct action in an attempt to free endangered bluefin tuna from a large cage bound for a Mediterranean bluefin tuna farm.

The activists said in a statement they met a great deal of resistance, including the firing of flares from the fishing vessel and the use of water cannons by the "Maltese navy".

The Maltese government, however, said that Greenpeace activists aggressively attacked legal activities being carried out by Maltese aquaculture operators.

The AFM said it intervened following a request from a fisherman to prevent Greenpeace vessels from damaging a fish cage being towed by the local vessel Ta’ Mattew, which contained legally-caught blue fin tuna being transported to Maltese ranching operations. The operation took place 22 nautical miles south of Malta.

The Federation of Maltese Aquaculture Producers said they would be calling upon the Commissioner of Police to investigate and take criminal proceedings against the perpetrators.

Greenpeace said the cage contained highly endangered bluefin tuna caught a few days ago by commercial fishing vessels. The activists, in seven inflatable boats, were launched from two Greenpeace ships, the Arctic Sunrise and the Rainbow Warrior.

Greenpeace said it is defending the Mediterranean and its bluefin tuna, 80 per cent of which is estimated to have already been fished out. Greenpeace has been calling for an end to bluefin tuna fishing for years to allow populations to recover to healthy levels.

"Releasing bluefin tuna is the only responsible thing to do, for the future of the fish and the future of our oceans," said Oliver Knowles, Greenpeace International oceans campaigner onboard the Rainbow Warrior.

"Greenpeace will confront any and all parts of the Mediterranean bluefin fishery; the most visible example of how politics and fisheries management have failed our oceans."

While the European Commission may have ordered some large-scale bluefin fishing vessels back to port, any fishing of bluefin continues to push the species to the brink of extinction, he said.

The Maltese government maintained that the Maltese operators’ activities werebeing carried out according to theInternational Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas and to European Union regulations.

These activities were also being monitored by inspectors from ICCAT and the EU.

The fish in these tuna pens belonging to Maltese operators were caught legally, and made up part of the quotas established by ICCAT.

The FMAP said Greenpeace activists attempted to forcibly take possession of Maltese property.

They thanked the AFM and said their arrival saved the day. The Maltese aauthorities asked Greenpeace to stand down immediately but the latter disobeyed forcing the patrol boats to interpose themselves between the Arctic Sunrise and the cage.

The FMAP said that bluefin fishery carried out this year was highly regulated and sustainable witih the relevant quotas having been set according to scientific study.

All purse seiners involved in the fisheries had international observers on board and were subjected to an unprecedented level of controls to ensure compliance with the rules.

It said that there was nothing peaceful about the attempt to hijack the tuna cage.

“It was unprovoked aggression and the perpetrators refused to obey the orders of the Maltese Armed Forces.

“This attempt can only be defined as criminal and violent and highly irresponsible in that by carrying out these assaults at sea they subject both their militants and innocent workers employed by the fish farms to unacceptable risks.

“They should be condemned without reservation.

“By doing so the activists have committed a number of crimes in Malta and we will be calling upon the Commissioner of Police to investigate and take criminal proceedings against the perpetrators.”

The FMAP said that as Maltese they had the right to demand and expect the intervention of the Maltese authorities when their affairs were carried out legally and in the respect of the law.

“Nobody has the right to take the law in his hands.

“This is a fundamental precept of our way of life and it is certainly not going to be unlawful threats and activities by so-called environmental activists that is going to change it.”