By Atuna

As most of the Mediterranean islands, Malta has a millenary tradition in fishing for tuna. The country has fished almost 3.000 M/T of tuna in the past eight years, 561 M/T only in 2007.

According to the Maltese Ministry for Resources and Rural Affairs (MRRA), the tuna industry –fishing and ranching– employs around 1.000 people, a considerable number for a country with less than half a million inhabitants. Slightly more than 56% of all Maltese fishermen are over 40 years old and the fishing activity managed to keep most of its artisanal characteristics over the years.

The Maltese fishing fleet consists of 1.422 vessels, from which 91 are targeting tuna: 89 are tuna longliners and 2 tuna purse-seiners.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Fisheries and Aquaculture department, around 65% of Maltese annual landings originate from tuna. From that amount, around half of it represents bluefin tuna.

The 2007 catching data from the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT) shows that Malta fished 561 M/T of tuna, of which 334 M/T were bluefin.

ICCAT’s data is unlikely to be accurate though, given that this would represent an annual catch of less than 7 M/T by each long line vessel. The MRRA and FAO support those numbers.

The fact that 60% of all tuna fished is represented by bluefin is no surprise for tuna professionals who are familiar with the sashimi global market. For over 20 years the Maltese tuna industry has provided Japan with great quality Mediterranean bluefin, highly appreciated by the Japanese cuisine.

 

Last year, the country exported 1.210 M/T of the species to Japan, 30% less than the previous year.

The second largest market for Maltese bluefin in the past two years is the United States’s increasing appetite for tuna sashimi, with 76 M/T exported in 2006, 26 M/T in 2007 and 101 M/T until October 2008.

The gap between catching numbers and export numbers can be explained by the Maltese tuna ranching industry, considered the largest in the Mediterranean with seven operating ranches.

“The production of bluefin tuna through penning has been increasing over the past few years. The fattening of this species around the Maltese islands started in 2000, with one farm producing 300 M/T per year. During 2001, two farms produced 1.150 M/T and production reached a peak of 3.550 M/T in 2003. The live tuna are exclusively imported from foreign purse seiners fishing in the central Mediterranean, and are re-exported to Asian markets after harvesting the fattened fish”, stated FAO Fisheries Department.

According to Malta’s Ministry for Resources and Rural Affairs, 3.065 M/T of bluefin tuna was farmed in 2005 and 5.215 M/T in 2006.

It is impossible to talk about Malta’s tuna industry without mentioning the numerous law suits and protests farming and fishing companies are facing for misleading data on what comes to bluefin trade.

Recently, the overexploitation of the species has been highlighted on the media due to the failure of ICCAT to implement scientific recommendations in order to reduce the species catches among its member countries.

This fact alone shows how hard it can be to break traditions and change millenary fishing habits. According to Malta Today’s journalist, Raphael Vassalo, the tuna industry in Malta has a lot of influence over the small country’s government and press.

Attempts to report the environmental effects on tuna ranching on Malta’s sea banks have been suppressed, and Vassalo himself is constantly facing prosecution for publishing articles about bluefin farming unclear data and procedures.

Bluefin tuna represents 4% of world’s total tuna catch.

In December 2008, the European Commission approved the Operational Programme for the Maltese Fisheries Industry for 2007-2013. The total eligible public expenditure of the programme totals € 11.163.105, with EU assistance from the European Fisheries Fund (EFF) amounting to € 8.372.329. From the total amount, 21% will be invested in the aquaculture sector, which, according to Vassalo, will not be popular among environmentalists.

Nevertheless, Raphael Vassalo affirmed that longline fishing, which is the fishing method used by the vast majority of Maltese fishermen, continues to provide for the livelihoods of at least two specific fishing communities: in Gozo and Marsaxlokk respectively: “We are not, however, talking about a particularly large industry”, he emphasized.

FAO describes Malta’s fishing industry as “small and vulnerable”. The per capita consumption of fish products is estimated at 6.58 Kg/year, but excludes canned and other processed products.

Capture fishery products are mainly sold through the wholesale fish market in Valletta. Fish are sold by public auction carried out by intermediaries (belonging to five limited companies) under the supervision of fisheries protection officers.