Solutions to the problems the fisheries sector is facing should be found around a table through discussions, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said this morning.
Speaking to fishermen during a meeting at AZAD, Dr Gonzi said that it was a fact that the volume of fish was on the decrease whether because of overfishing, pollution or divers, so immediate action had follow discussions.
Fishermen are demanding concessions, including a reduced national insurance rate.
National Fisheries Cooperative president Ray Bugeja said the cooperative was confident the Prime Minister could help resolve differences through balance and truth.
Pawlu Piscopo, from the Ghaqda Koperattiva tas-Sajd said the fishing industry will face a crisis in the coming months because profits were being eroded while expenses were on the increase.
Fishermen were making efforts to import diesel from Libya but some had problems doing so because their vessel was small.
Fishermen, he said, should be given some form of assistance so that a balance would be found between profits and expenses.
He also attacked the Planning Authority for 'hindering fishermen' saying it was not true that the dusky grouper was being overfished, as it was claiming.
Later, Dr Gonzi had a meeting with the Chamber of Small and Medium Enterprises.
Introducing the meeting, vice president Joan Haber said the GRTU represented more than 7,000 members and more than 10,000 SMEs.
Its members had a list of issues they were concerned about and they wanted decisions to be taken.
Certain people in the civil service, including people leading government departments and other entities were not doing their job and some members had been waiting for months or even years for solutions to their problems.
“We cannot keep postponing every discussion we have. We know how to be militant but we believe that the best way forward is through cooperation,” she said. She also said that some members had to suffer intimidation and personal attacks.
Dr Gonzi replied that the GRTU represented the backbone of Maltese economy and a number of schemes and initiatives through which SMEs were benefitting had been the GRTU’s idea. He condemned personal attacks saying these were unacceptable.
As this meeting, at the GRTU’s headquarters, was being held, a number of gas distributors gathered and insisted they wanted to speak to the Prime Minister. One of their representatives eventually did, telling Dr Gonzi about distributors concerns now that the government had opened up the market.