An environmental organisation has called on the government to set in place regulations that will protect swordfish, which was “in greater danger” of being overfished than tuna.

Din l-Art Ħelwa told the Rural Affairs Ministry there was little or no legislation regulating the catch of swordfish, which led to younger species being caught.

“Maltese fishing statistics show that, over the past few years, the overall weight of swordfish catches has not decreased. There are no statistics that refer to the number of fish being caught but only to the total weight, leading to the perception that there is no problem with swordfish stocks while it is becoming evident that a greater number of smaller fish are making up this weight,” the organisation said.

It said it was worried by what it termed as inadequate international legislation regulating swordfish fishing and called for it to be urgently updated under the upcoming EU Common Fisheries Policy. The policy should also protect the fishermen who depended on swordfish and other fish for their livelihood and were suffering because of the enforcement of unjust EU fishing quotas. Failing this, these fishermen would be out of a job in the next few years because there would not be any more fish to catch, it added.

DLĦ pointed out that there was a substantial lack of information on the conservation status of nearly one third of Mediterranean marine fish, noting that the last assessment for swordfish was carried out in 1996.

Together with another four environmental groups – Greenhouse, Nature Trust, Sharklab and GetupStandup – DLĦ said it was working to form Fish4Tomorrow, which was focused on overfishing. The campaign focuses on raising awareness within the local market to promote and nurture a culture of sustainable eating for fish stocks.

It urged consumers not to eat or buy baby swordfish to allow these to mature and reproduce.