Maltese sea life at risk

Rupert Masefield from Birdlife Malta explains why we should be doing everything in our power to conserve Malta’s marine environment and how the EU’s Natura 2000 initiative might hold the key.

The waters around Malta are home to at least 2,200 different species, representing 20 per cent of the total number found in the Mediterranean, itself disproportionately rich in biological diversity.

Potentially harmful activities in Marine Protected Areas are still not being effectively regulated- Rupert Masefield

This number includes many globally threatened marine species and habitats. The Loggerhead Turtle, bred in Malta as recently as the 1960s, and a single acre of the Posidonia (seagrass or mergħat tal-alka) beds found in the shallow waters on the east side of theMaltese Islands can support as many as 4,000 fish and 50 million invertebrates.

Not all the animals associated with the sea live underwater. About 350 species of seabirds depend closely on the sea as a food source and Malta is home to three globally important breeding populations of threatened seabird species: the European Storm Petrel (Kanġu ta’ Filfla), the Yelkouan Shearwater (garnija) and Cory’s Shearwater (ċiefa).

Marine ecosystems play a role in a number of global environmental processes, such as the carbon cycle, which are recognised as being vital to the maintenance of the conditions needed for life on earth. The intricate relationships between the organisms that populate these ecosystems have proved to be extremely vulnerable to disturbance by human activities.

In the last 100 years there has been an explosion in our exploitation of the oceans. Current levels of industrial fishing threaten to deplete wild fish stocks to the point of extinction.

Trawling and dredging both cause untold harm to habitats and species. Dolphins, turtles and seabirds are frequently caught on long-lines and recorded as ‘by-catch’.

And it’s not just what we take out of the water. Apart from the sewage and chemical waste traditionally pumped into coastal waters, a growing contribution is nowmade by Malta’s burgeoningaquaculture industry, which employs nutrient enrichmenttechniques to increase yield and antibiotics to prevent disease in the unnaturally dense fish populations in their pens.

Without immediate action to protect our seas we risk damaging beyond repair one of our most valuable natural resources, one that sustains Malta’s tourismindustry and the livelihoods oftraditional fishermen.

Natura 2000, the EU’s flagship biodiversity conservation initiative, has formed the backbone ofbiodiversity conservation effortsin Malta.

As yet, Malta has only one marine site in the Natura 2000 network. In 2010 the Malta Environment and Planning Authority designated four new Marine Protected Areas on a national level, protecting more than 80 per cent ofMalta’s internationally important seagrass beds.

Despite this, while assessment procedures are being carried out in the expectation of implementing management plans andprotecting these sites under EU legislation, potentially harmful activities in these protectedareas are still not effectively regulated.

For example, fish farms and tuna ranching activities continue to operate within Malta’s largest area of seagrass bed habitat.

As for birds, there are 13 terrestrial Special Protection Areas, which have been designated according to the EU BirdsDirective.

However, there are no marine protected areas for seabirds and their habitats in Malta. Considering the importance of offshore marine areas as feeding grounds for seabirds, this is a significant gap in the country’s efforts to safeguard its breeding populations.

A new research project was recently launched in Malta to identify marine Important Bird Areas for inclusion in the Natura 2000 network.

The EU Life+ Malta SeabirdProject is being led by Birdlife Malta, in partnership with the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and the Environment, The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (Birdlife’s UK partner) and Sociedade Portuguesa para o Estudo das Aves (Birdlife’s partner in Portugal) and will result in the creation of Malta’s first marine Special Protection Areas.

Projects like this provide grounds for hope that Malta is starting to take biodiversity conservation more seriously, both on land and at sea, but much depends on the proper implementation of practical conservation management strategies and enforcement of legislation.

Rupert Masefield is a communications intern with Birdlife Malta under the European Voluntary Service.