Two Maltese divers airlifted to hospital

A Maltese diver had his arm ripped by a fishing hook during a clash with conservationists who were trying to free caged tuna being towed by two fishing vessels.

The clash happened yesterday afternoon 35 nautical miles north of Tripoli when members of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society accosted the two vessels - a tug boat and a supply vessel - towing the cage with hundreds of tuna belonging to Maltese company Fish and Fish.

The injured diver, Reuben Silvio, who was on board the Maltese-registered tug Rosaria Tuna, was airlifted to Malta late last night. A second diver who suffered bruising during the attack was also airlifted.

Both divers, one of whom had a bandaged hand, walked off the helipad at Mater Dei to a waiting ambulance at around midnight where members of their family, company officials and Fisheries Minister George Pullicino were waiting.

They were airlifted from the Italian-registered supply vessel Cesare Rustico at around 10.30 p.m. some 90 nautical miles away from Malta.

Sources said the Libyan coastguard, which was supposed to have attended to the emergency call, never turned up and this forced the vessel to leave the tuna pen and head towards Malta.

The fishing company and conservationists gave contrasting versions of what happened during the incident on the high seas.

Fish and Fish director Joe Caruana said the crew were shocked by the attack on their boats. He insisted the tuna was caught legally and Sea Shepherd had no right to inspect their vessels.

"They first used dinghies to attack our boats with ammonia and rubber bullets and then their ship rammed into the cage. They threw hooks into the sea in an attempt to rip the nets and it was at this point that Mr Silvio was injured when he tried to remove one of the hooks," a visibly shaken Mr Caruana said.

A couple of weeks ago, he added, company officials had a meeting with the Police Commissioner and warned that things might come to a head given that Greenpeace and Sea Shepherd had announced beforehand what their intentions were.

Mr Caruana confirmed that some of the tuna escaped after the cage was damaged.

Company lawyer John Refalo said the crew defended their property.

"What the Sea Shepherds did was disgusting. It is terrorism at sea, an act of piracy," Dr Refalo said, insisting the fish was caught legally according to the allocated quota.

He also accused the conservationists of using tear gas and rubber bullets on the unarmed fishermen.

"They had no right to inspect the cage and it is ridiculous for them to claim self defence because they were the ones to invade private property," Dr Refalo said, insisting the company would be taking legal action against the conservation organisation.

The captain of the conservation group's flagship Steve Irwin, which was involved in the incident, denied the accusations, insisting it was the ship's crew that repelled a "violent assault" by fishermen.

Speaking to The Times from on board the Steve Irwin, Captain Paul Watson said they had no evidence of anybody being injured.

"We had a helicopter in the air, we had inflatable dinghies in the water and we were filming the whole operation. From media reports we understood (the diver) was injured by a grapnel but we do not have evidence of that at all," he said.

He also denied using rubber bullets or tear gas, insisting that the ship's crew threw rotten butter on the deck of a fishing boat that tried to ram them. "We have it on video that the fishermen were attacking us with hooks after ramming us. We threw bottles of rotten butter on their deck and that sent them away," Capt. Watson said.

He said the conservation group was not a protest organisation like Greenpeace but one that took direct action to stop illegal activities.

"We had every reason to suspect that the tuna was caught illegally in the last couple of days when the fishing season is closed. We asked to inspect the cage but the fishermen were defensive and did not cooperate when we asked for information," he said, insisting the two fishing boats were purseiners - a claim flatly denied by Mr Caruana last night.

Capt. Watson claimed the organisation had investigated dozens of cages in the Mediterranean without incident and had also cooperated with the "Maltese coastguard" on a number of occasions.

"We did not bother legal operations but this was the first one we came across, which we felt quite confident had caught the fish in the closed season," he said.

"I sailed the Steve Irwin next to the cage to take a closer look and that is when the Rosaria Tuna rammed us in the stern and fishermen were attacking our members with fish hooks."

Capt. Watson said divers from the Steve Irwin managed to rip up the net and release several hundred tuna, which were also caught on film.

Sea Shepherd is an international non-profit, marine wildlife conservation organisation and is conducting a campaign against tuna fishing in the Mediterranean.

Minister Pullicino condemned the attack describing it as "unacceptable aggression". He said the Maltese tuna operation was legal and within EU parameters, adding that people had every right to express their views and make their point but within a legal framework.

It is unfortunate, he said, that this incident led to the injury of two Maltese workers.

The government also expressed solidarity with the injured fisherman and condemned the Sea Shepherds' attack.

Meanwhile, in a strongly-worded statement, the Nationalist Party condemned the "violent aggression being waged against Maltese fishermen" and expressed its deep concern at the harmful consequences to fishermen, the economy and the rule of law.

ksansone@timesofmalta.com