One of my fondest memories of childhood is steering my little frejgatina out of St Paul’s Bay, heading to the islands of St Paul and dipping in the clearest waters imaginable. Regrettably, I would not dream of doing the same today with my children.

The sea around St Paul’s islands today hosts a fish farm. Like all other zones that host these farms, the quality of water has deteriorated. Not only are these zones contaminated and murky, but waste produced from the farms is finding its way to the foreshore. Clearly, this situation, which has persisted for years, is no longer tenable.

For some, perhaps many, the simplest and most popular solution would be the eradication of fish farming activity altogether. But is such a solution necessarily the right or the only solution?

Fish farming, if properly controlled and regulated, can be a sustainable means of providing food. It is one of the industries created during the past PN-led administrations and had potential. Over time, the industry grew, albeit not without its more-than-fair share of controversy and a growing concern at the degradation of the underlying seabed and general inconvenience to divers and swimmers.

Years back, the Fisheries Department proposed relocating the fish farms further offshore. This plan was met with strong resistance from the fish farm operators, who lacked the will to change, and a number of Labour MPs, including prominent members of the present Cabinet, who objected to the proposed sites for relocation.

Things would perhaps be better today had that relocation happened. Admittedly, though, relocation without proper regulation is still no solution.

The public outcry is now too deafening, and it is impossible for the government to ignore the current state of affairs. One hopes, however, the government acts sensibly rather than coming up with a populist, knee-jerk reaction that will, in the long term, create more problems than it solves and lose out on the potential of an industry which, if properly regulated and controlled, still has what to offer to our economy.

The government should resuscitate the plans to relocate the fish farms as far out offshore as possible. We should identify zones that limit the environmental damage, particularly on the seabed.

The government should also use this opportunity to help the industry set itself up on stronger and more professional grounds. Malta can excel in this sector. It can become a world-class centre of research in this field.

Our emphasis should not be solely on improving the economic performance of the operators. Our main emphasis should be to derive more environmental gains from this industry on a global level. We should contribute in the research for the onshore breeding and rearing of fish species, particularly tuna, to limit the need to fish from the wild.

We should encourage a better consumer appreciation and understanding of fish-farmed produce. We should look into producing feed that is more sound environmentally.

Over the past 30 years, since the inception of this sector, Malta has contributed to some gains. But, at times, we also allowed the industry to operate with a seemingly free-for-all mentality.

The government should resuscitate the plans to relocate the fish farms as far out offshore as possible

Let us better regulate rather than eradicate this industry. Let us protect and enhance the investment that the country made in this sector over the past 30 years by putting the industry on more environmentally sustainable grounds.

This requires an effort from all concerned, though mainly from the operators, who, so far, have resisted all efforts to relocate offshore. This relocation is a sine qua non. Without it, the visual and waste pollution problems will remain.

Several reasons were mentioned in the past to resist the relocation. Perhaps excuses would be a better word. Those reasons cannot overcome the desperate cries of communities that are suffering the stench of fish farms operating in their vicinity. The sooner the operators realise this and act upon it, the better.

It is now up to a Labour government, including the people and operators who have resisted change in the past, to do what is necessary. Their actions in the past were guided by political or commercial expediency. I hope that any actions by the government now are dictated by a long-term vision and not short-term gains.

We need to find a solution that serves the best interest of the country, the communities that live around the coast, the tourism industry that depends on the country having pristine coastal waters, the operators who invested in this sector and those families whose livelihood depends on it having a bright future.

Let us take this opportunity to turn this sector into a pillar of our maritime activity and the blue economy, but not at the expense of our environment. The government should consider a carrot-and-stick approach to help the industry get its house in order once and for all, maintain sustainable growth and expand its research programme while making it clear that it will come down hard on those operators who do not abide by their permit conditions.

If we manage to achieve this, then we stand to gain as a nation.

Mario de Marco is deputy leader of the Nationalist Party.