Fishermen deny attacking protesters - say flares fired as a warning

The Malta Aquaculture Federation said this afternoon that claims by Sea Shepherd that its anti-tuna fishing activists were attacked by fishermen in Libyan waters could not be further from the truth.

"Following the assault by the (Sea Shepherd ship) Steve Irwin on the Cesare Rustico only two days ago, the owners requested assistance and a number of vessels went to their aid. These vessels remained close to the Cesare Rustico because of the danger of a repeat attack. They were unfortunately proven right when this morning the black shape of the Steve Irwin loomed on the horizon like a modern day pirate, accompanied by a helicopter and a number of inflatable craft obviously intent on repeating the performance of a couple of days ago.

"The Cesare Rustico sent out a mayday calling upon any available military vessel within the area to rush to its assistance and, in an attempt to prevent further damage, deployed its accompanying vessels around the cage in tow. Flares were sent up as a warning to the Steve Irwin, strong words were exchanged by radio and the scene was set for another bloody confrontation. Meanwhile it seems that the Steve Irwin realised that it was being followed on radar by Libyan security forces. Its crew concluded that it would be a good moment to abandon the attack and, in behaviour reminiscent of school bullies confronted by a teacher they abandoned the scene in a great hurry to avoid being caught up by patrol vessels."

The federation said the Sea Shepherd ship was never attacked; nor would it have taken the threat posed by these small boats seriously. Rather its attack on the Cesare Rustico was frustrated by the imagined presence of Libyan security forces.

"From the declarations on its website it is obvious that the crew on the Steve Irwin was bent on causing yet more damage. The crew on the Cesare Rustico and its accompanying vessels had no option but to turn round and defend their cargo. They did so responsibly by radioing immediately for assistance. They did not seek confrontation but merely tried to avoid a danger which had been imposed on them by the Steve Irwin.

"Had the Steve Irwin been under attack it would have radioed for assistance. Not only did it not radio for assistance; on the contrary it fled the scene when it thought that security forces were arriving, seeking the sanctuary of international waters were it crew imagine that they can continue their illegal cruise with impunity. This is not the behaviour of an innocent person who is attacked. It is on the contrary the behaviour of a thief who flies when the guards are roused. It is the behaviour of Somali pirates when the navy rushes in!"

The federation said the fishermen had been lucky in that another disaster at sea has been averted.

"What is clear is that a continuing strong presence of security forces is required at sea if further incidents are to be avoided."