Massive fish farm proposed at edge of Malta’s territorial waters

A fish farm well over the size of a football pitch is being proposed on an offshore site at the limits of Malta’s territorial waters, 22km south of Marsaxlokk.

The proposal for a “fish rearing open sea facility” on a 9,954sq.m offshore site is being made by Seaculture Ltd, which is owned by the Israeli-based Dagat Hayam Holdings and two Maltese companies, Abalone Limited and Octupine Limited, both owned by Pierre Balzan, whose Melita Marine Group is involved in yachting and shipyard projects as well as the controversial bid for a marina in Marsaskala.

Shay Brosh, one of the directors of the company, filed for patents in both the US and Europe for “open-sea aquaculture systems” which employ a semi-submersible plat-form with vertical columns, with storage and maintenance facilities for supporting aquaculture.

The system comprises an assembly of aquaculture cages, with vertical cavities for the corresponding columns of the platform.

The technology was presented as a solution to rough sea conditions through a flexible fish cage system for open sea aquaculture. In this way cages may be lowered at rough sea, to avoid damage to fish due to storm conditions and strong waves.

During calm sea periods, cages may be placed in shallower waters. Maintenance facilities would comprise a computerised centre for monitoring cages, manage and control the feeding process, detect signs of diseases, and allow the crew to continuously supervise the aquaculture.

Open sea aquaculture has the advantage of being located further away from the coast than near-to-shore farms, having less of an impact on coastal areas.

But concerns have been expressed in scientific literature with regards to the escape of fish, water pollution from uneaten feed and waste products, and the possible spread of water-borne disease from cultured to wild fish.

Transport Malta is objecting to the proposed location, as the area chosen has a high shipping traffic density, adding that such proposals should be made in sites with less maritime traffic.

Before further assessing the proposal, the Environment and Resources Authority has asked for more information on the species of fish to be reared, the projected tonnage, feeding methods, and whether any support land bases will be required.

Seaculture Limited has declared it notified the government as the owner of the site, of their intentions.

The government recently identified a 900sq.km zone of shallow waters around Hurd’s Bank, and a 6,500sq.km belt around the island, as two areas where it intends issuing concessions to private companies for the production of renewable energy, the production and storage of hydrogen, fish farms and the establishment of “artificial islands”.

The government is also committed to fast-track planning permits for such projects to a maximum duration of three months from the submission of all required documents including environment impact assessments. Apart from Hurd’s Bank, which is designated as Area 1 of Malta’s Exclusive Economic Zone, the entire offshore belt extending between 12 nautical miles to 25 nautical miles, which spans over 6,500sq.km, is designated as Area 2.

The concessions will be awarded through a three-stage procedure: starting with a pre-qualification questionnaire, followed by a shortlisting of companies who would be invited to participate in a next stage of dialogue meetings with each shortlisted company.