Malta’s quota for tuna fishing from the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) currently stands at 154 tonnes or 1.16 per cent of the total European catch, but the government has no power to interfere where fishermen sell their catches, Resources Minister George Pullicino said in reply to supplementary parliamentary questions by Labour MP Anthony Agius Decelis.

Asked how the local market could be guaranteed a supply of tuna, the minister said fishermen were free to sell their tuna catches in Malta or any other market, going for the best prices available. The government’s part was not to control the free market but to see that fishing was done according to international rules and with the right certification.

In view of the situation in Libya ICCAT had decided that Libyan fishing waters were a no-go area.

Mr Pullicino also said that tuna catches could be landed only in Mġarr, Marfa, Valletta and Marsaxlokk in the presence of landing officers. When the quota was surpassed the overcatch was confiscated and given to charity.

Malta’s quota for tuna fishing could not be renegotiated except at the ICCAT AGM.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.