Update 5.30pm - Adds PL reaction

Fish farms should be moved further offshore and their operating conditions made more stringent, the Nationalist Party said today. 

In a statement issued by PN environment shadow minister Marthese Portelli and spokesman Ryan Callus, the party said that despite fish farms' €150 million yearly contribution to Malta's exports, they could not operate with impunity and in breach of their permit conditions. 

The Labour Party reacted by saying fish farm pollution "did not begin today" and that the PN had dragged its feet for 25 years on the issue. 

Fish farms have come under scrutiny following widespread reports of oily slime reaching swimming bays. Public outrage forced the government to act, with four tuna farms subjected to emergency enforcement and the Environment Ministry admitting that more than half of all fish farm cages are actually illegal.  

A deadline for fish farm operators to present a method statement on how they will be addressing illegalities within a specified period of time expires today. 

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