Environment Minister José Herrera defended a decision to allow lucrative tuna fattening operations to continue despite multiple inspections by the fisheries regulator last year finding irregularities in the industry.

Tuna operators in the multi-million euro industry are meant to abide by strict quotas during the fattening process that takes place in their pens.

The Sunday Times of Malta reported that fisheries department inspectors found major irregularities in most of Malta’s tuna farms last year but the operations were allowed to proceed notwithstanding.

Dr Herrera overturned the suspension of several tuna cage operations and overruled the further regulatory step of suspending the companies’ licences after the fisheries department flagged major discrepancies in the amount and type of tuna in their pens, industry sources said. 

Instead, it was decided to await the outcome of a magisterial inquiry into the industry practices after the matter was reported to the police.

The island’s tuna farming industry has been cast in the spotlight after an international investigation found it was at the centre of an EU-wide black market operation.

Replying to questions by the Times of Malta, an Environment Ministry spokesman defended the decision to allow the operators to carry on as normal.

“Whenever discrepancies are found, as a matter of course, the Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture (DFA) temporarily suspends the operations of the specific cage until discrepancies are decided and corrective action is taken.

“By way of example, if excess tuna are found over and above the acceptable level, the DFA orders the release of the excess before it allows continuation of operations at the cage. This must be seen also in the context of the fact that when operations are suspended operators incur substantial expenses by way of extended feeding and management,” the spokesman said.

He said that whenever discrepancies in operators’ tuna numbers appeared to constitute a criminal offence, evidence was preserved and the matter referred to the police for further investigation.

Asked whether the ministerial decision to overturn the suspension of the tuna pen operations undermined the DFA’s position as a regulator, the spokesman insisted this was not the case.

“The approach adopted does not diminish the regulator’s powers, bearing in mind that, in any democratic country, the decision as to whether a criminal act has been committed, and the consequence to be suffered for that, pertains to the courts,” the spokesman replied.

The industry sources said one company’s tuna cage operation was suspended for several weeks around October by the fisheries regulator as a result of the irregularities found. Following the suspension, officials from the European Commission carried out a surprise inspection at another tuna farming operation. 

The company’s operation was also suspended after more tuna than that declared were found in the pen.

Andreina Fenech Farrugia, the fisheries department’s head, was suspended by Dr Herrera after a Spanish newspaper published excerpts of a conversation she allegedly had last June with a tuna pen operator.

She denied allegations she had solicited bribes from a Spanish tuna kingpin in exchange for an increase in his tuna quotas. A separate magisterial inquiry is looking into these allegations.

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