Updated Saturday 11pm with ERA statement

The relocation of tuna fish farming cages has been lambasted as potentially harmful to the environment, in breach of the law and mired in a process lacking transparency by BirdLife Malta.

The NGO was referring to the approval by the Environment & Resources Authority (ERA) and the Planning Authority (PA) to relocate tuna fish farming cages from an area close to Comino to a new site by l-Aħrax tal-Mellieħa without the authorities requesting the appropriate assessment, mandatory under the European Habitats Directive.

While BirdLife Malta acknowledges the need to relocate fish farms to cause less pollution to beaches – a phenomenon which has been impacting water quality in various beaches and marine ecosystems - the application approved on Thursday did not carry the necessary pre-requisities of siting such developments within marine Natura 2000 sites.

In turn, the approval actually sanctioned an increase in the number of fish cages (from four to six) than what was originally permitted at Comino.

The chosen location is within two designated marine Natura 2000 sites which qualify as both a marine Special Protection Area for seabirds under the Birds Directive, and as a marine Special Area of Conservation under the Habitats Directive.

Plans should only have been approved after it has been ascertained that these will not adversely affect the integrity of the site concerned

Plans should only have been approved after it has been ascertained that these will not adversely affect the integrity of the site concerned, and, if appropriate, after having obtained the opinion of the public.

Although a two-year period could be enough for the proposed fish cages to exert an impact, the proposal may also impact the colony of Yelkouan Shearwaters, which occupy their largest colony (estimated at three per cent of the world population) at the cliffs of Rdum tal-Madonna.

Yelkouan Shearwaters. Photo: Aron Tanti

It is not known how fish farming activities will affect the species as no impact studies have been carried out.

No assessments were presented on the possible damage caused by tuna farms at Comino to the marine environment in the past in order to predict the impacts these might exert elsewhere.

Despite the concerns raised over the years from government authorities and the general public about the impact of fish farms on water quality, it is understood that no changes to aquaculture practices are being imposed, BLM said.

"While development in the area was scrutinised for the then proposal to erect wind turbines, this time round ERA and PA have not raised similar concerns or objectives.

"In the end it is unclear what permit conditions have been imposed on the developer to ensure that environmental impacts are contained, and that the developer complies to permitting conditions."

ERA says site was selected by experts

The Environment and Resources Authority clarified that the temporary relocation of the tuna fish farm cages to a site off Mellieħa was screened for both an Environment Impact Assessment and Appropriate Assessment. The site chosen for the temporary relocation was based on a selection exercise carried out by scientific experts.

In relation to permit conditions, relevant conditions to safeguard the environment including monitoring will be included in the ERA authorisation.

In addition, a number of conditions are imposed by the Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture on the operations of the fish farm and related tonnage.