Fishermen have put tomorrow’s planned protest on hold after the intervention of the Prime Minister’s Special Delegate, Simon Busuttil.
The decision to call off the protest was taken late yesterday evening during a long meeting of the National Fisheries Cooperative board, which met to discuss the latest developments in their attempts to get the concessions they have been demanding.
Cooperative president Ray Bugeja said Dr Busuttil contacted the cooperative and said he understood their concerns. He also gave them an appointment to meet Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi as part of the series of meetings he is having with civil society.
Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, Mr Bugeja said fishermen were prepared to go ahead with a protest in Grand Harbour tomorrow if the government continued to dishonour the promises it made in the past.
Among the concessions the fishermen are after is the payment of a reduced National Insurance rate.
Mr Bugeja told the news conference that if the government continued to treat fishermen the way it had been in the last 10 years, Malta would be the first island not to have a fisheries sector.
He said that since the fishermen last held a protest about the implementation of reforms in the sector, Rural Affairs Minister George Pullicino had only met them twice.
Fishermen are looking for a reduction in the National Insurance rate of more than 10 per cent. According to Mr Bugeja, in 2004 the government had promised to cut the rate by half, implement a new insurance scheme for fishermen and compensate swordfish fishermen who will be hit by coastal fishing bans. Moreover, the cooperative wants a guarantee that no quotas will be imposed for those who fish for lampuki.
Mr Bugeja claimed the government did not consult them on the fisheries management plan and had not carried out any scientific studies. The government’s plans would lead to a reduction in fishing for several types of fish and leave them without a future, he said.
Reacting to these claims, the Resources and Rural Affairs Ministry said there were two fisheries cooperatives but only the one led by Mr Bugeja was being “confrontational”.
It said the ministry had written to Mr Bugeja several times, giving him its proposals, but no feedback had been received.