Trawler owners yesterday called on the authorities to get the ball rolling on a new study into the EU-designated fishing areas, saying these zones were just not suitable for them.

The fishermen berthed their boats alongside the fish market near the entrance to the Grand Harbour and held a press conference complaining that the Government had filed an outdated study on fishing zones. This had led to a dispute over the interpretation of the law governing the types of nets they could use.

The president of the Fishermans Cooperative, Paul Piscopo, said that due to the dispute, the Government had stopped them from carrying on with their activities. They should be able to take on board €1,600 worth of fish a day but had now been standing still for 12 days.

Mr Piscopo said the 22 licensed trawlers had been assigned zones unsuitable for commercial fishing and the areas mostly consisted of rocky plains.

The dispute has been dragging on since 2006 and the cooperative was insisting that a proper study should be submitted to the EU with urgency, Mr Piscopo said.

He added that the trawlers employed six to eight fishermen on each boat.

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