The weathered faces of elderly fishermen smiling against a background of brightly-coloured luzzus is an image Malta heavily exploits to attract tourists. But after the moment is captured, the grim reality unfolds where an increasing number of fishermen are struggling to save a tradition from eradication.

There are four generations of fishermen in the Bugeja family from Marsaxlokk.

"My father was a fisherman in his mother's womb," Charles Bugeja said. "It's all he knows."

But their work at sea is becoming increasingly more difficult and dangerous. They admit, theirs is a dying breed.

Technological innovations in the fisheries sector have developed to maximise catch and minimise effort. But the destruction that is wrought by such fishing methods is an issue the family passionately opposes.

The introduction of fish farms and the presence of purse seiners, vessels employed to bring massive quantities of tuna to fill the farms, are fast destroying the Maltese fishing tradition, the Bugeja family insists.

"The sea has sustained us for many years. We have always respected what nature provides because our sons would otherwise not be able to earn the same living. Short-term gains will cause long term loss," the father insisted.

The method they employ is sustainable. They take what they need and waste is avoided.

Their work requires hours of patience during days at sea. They drop miles and miles of line, lain horizontally on the water's surface with short lines attached to hooks that drop down like a curtain at regular intervals. The bait at the end of each hook dances around in the currents, flirting and tempting the tuna to have a taste.

There is never a shortage of factors that work against them - the sea is temperamental and the fishermen know the elements through lessons learnt. It is a difficult trade requiring great skill that cannot in any way compete with modern industrial fleets.

Purse seine vessels throw bait and then surround the gathered fish with curtain-like nets to catch tuna. They cover a targeted area that traps and draws all the fish into a cage that is then towed towards the farming cages where they are fattened to be exported to the lucrative Japanese market. One trip can rake in hundreds of tonnes of tuna, compared with the handful of fish drawn in by traditional fishing methods.

Industrial vessels have increased their efficiency enormously in the last decade through a variety of technological innovations. The farms rely on tuna purse seine fleets to provide live bluefin tuna to stock their farms; as a result, the two industries are closely linked and highly organised.

Tuna farming, a relatively new industry in the region, is the main driving force behind the current levels of over-exploitation. Greenpeace says the population (biomass) of adult bluefin tuna had decreased by 80 per cent over the previous 20 years. Huge numbers of juvenile tuna were caught every season before they reached breeding age.

The European Union is allocated almost 60 per cent of the bluefin tuna quota. The Union has greatly contributed to the increase both in the fishing capacity of its purse seine fleets in the Mediterranean and the farming capacity in countries such as Malta, which is the global capital of tuna farms.

Following the warnings by environmental organisations that bluefin tuna is on the brink of extinction, the EU has increased efforts to control the exploitation of fish stocks by its Mediterranean members.

The government is preparing to oppose a possible EU proposal to ban the international trade of bluefin tuna that would deal a devastating blow to the industry. In defence, a report to be published soon will claim that the aquaculture industry contributes €100 million per year to Malta's economy.

Reacting to the EU's proposal, the government insisted that it would defend the livelihood of local fishermen. But in Marsaxlokk, fishermen who use traditional methods are questioning whose interests the government is defending. The international trade in tuna has reduced their income to a trickle and increased the risks they face at sea.

When a purse seiner has been to an area where tuna are present, they eliminate the chances for traditional fishermen because the vessels leave no trace of any fish. Since the industrial fleets have difficulty operating in bad weather, the traditional boats are taken out in rough sea in a desperate attempt to gain some catch while the large vessels are in port.

When both types of vessel are in the water, purse seiners regularly tear the lines drawn by the smaller boats as the cages are towed in towards the coast. The fishermen say they receive no compensation.

"It costs us about €1,000 to go out for three days. More often than not, we now return empty-handed. So we are forced to take more risks to earn a living in a very limited season," Mr Bugeja said, "out of despair".

"The greed of industrial fisheries" has also imposed new restrictions and quotas on catch that compound the difficulties already faced by traditional fishermen. The punishment for the few who make millions in the tuna trade is being wrought on everybody indiscriminately.

"They should not stop us from catching tuna because we are not the ones who have caused the damage. The tuna farms and their fleets are the ones who should be reined in," the fishermen said.