Two fish farm operators whose permits were revoked last month have not yet complied with the terms they themselves proposed, the Planning Authority has confirmed. 

In a statement, the Planning Authority said that while two operators have abided by their unilateral declarations, Fish&Fish and AJD Tuna Ltd are not yet "fully compliant", despite them having removed some cages. 

News that the two operators were not adhering to the conditions they set themselves was exclusively broken yesterday by the Times of Malta.

The Planning Authority statement provided a run-down of operators' progress so far, although it did not state how many cages the two errant operators have yet to empty. 

Two operators, Malta Fish Farming Ltd and Malta Mariculture Ltd, have removed two 20m diameter cages and two 50m diametre cages respectively, and are now fully compliant with the unilateral declarations they made to the PA about how, and when they would remove their fish farms.  

Fish&Fish Ltd has removed one 50m diameter cage and has emptied out another two 50m diameter cages and is now waiting for the Fisheries Department "to provide exact coordinates where to move the cages to", the PA said. 

AJD Tuna Ltd has removed two 50m diameter cages so far. 

All four fish farm operators had their 10 development permits revoked by the Planning Board last month, with the decision coming after months of complaints about widespread oily slime spreading to local bathing waters.

The operators have up until December 31 2016 to completely relocate their tuna structures and operations to the approved aquaculture zone in the south of Malta.

In its statement, the PA warned operators that it still reserved the right to proceed with direct action "should it deem necessary."