Divers fight for marine conservation

Nineteen environmentally-conscious divers took the plunge yesterday morning to survey the bountiful Ċirkewwa seabed in an effort to persuade the authorities to declare the site a marine sanctuary.

The area, where two shipwrecks and stretches of posidonia, a protected plant, can be found, attracts scores of enthusiasts to its flora and fauna. But although fishing is prohibited, it still takes place.

“Divers report infringements on a daily basis. Spear-fishing, with and without aqualungs, and the laying of trammel nets are but two of the infringements,” said Antonio Anastasi, the founder of the pressure group spearheading the project.

“About two weeks ago, two spear-fishermen wearing aqua-lungs killed two groupers at one of the shipwrecks. By the time the police got here they had already driven off,” he said.

The situation spurred the pressure group to call on the government to install signs declaring the site a protected area and highlighting fines, apart from maintaining a constant watch over the site.

“To date, the maritime authority has declared the area a no-fishing zone on paper. The fundamental tool to preserve and protect, that of proactive enforcement, is missing,” Mr Anastasi said.

The pressure group is also calling for the prohibition of all types of fishing from boats, only allowing angling from the south quay, and for a buffer zone to be declared around the already-protected area.

In an effort to convince the authorities, the group called on its supporters yesterday to participate in a voluntary and systematic survey of the seabed. This involved groups of divers swiming out in a straight line, filming the seabed to a pre-established distance, then turning at a right-angle before turning again and completing a square.

A second dive, in the afternoon, then focused on the posidonia population, with divers identifying their sprouting grounds and the area covered by the plant. Once again, this required a systematic approach, with the divers dividing the meadows in squares and then adding them up to make an estimate of the area and the population.

“The area should be looked at holistically. The northeast has extensive healthy posidonia meadows. This protected species is the keystone of healthy marine environment,” Mr Anastasi said.

He added it was “inappropriate” to address areas of conservation by simply looking at the posidonia independently as these did not exist in a vacuum but as part of an integral bio-diverse environment.

Considered to be the first step in a fight for conservation, the survey will facilitate the setting up of a database of flora and fauna in the area.