UPDATED: Two Maltese men injured after clash with tuna conservationists off Tripoli

Adds PN reaction

A Maltese fisherman is understood to have been injured during a clash with volunteers from the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, who are currently searching the Mediterranean by ship and helicopter for illegal tuna fishing.

When contacted by MaltaToday, Dr Anthony Gruppetta, Director-General of Fisheries, said that they had requested the Libyan authorities to provide assistance to the two people. In fact, Libyan patrol boats were on the way to provide assistance after the Maltese called for help.

However Gruppetta was not in a position to reply about whether the Maltese operators had been indeed been taken to hospital as he was abroad for a conference. In this case, since the incident occurred outside the Maltese SAR region, the Maltese Armed Forces (AFM) could not intervene.

The tuna pen is the property of Maltese company Fish & Fish, owned by brothers Joe and Saviour Caruana, which was towing a tuna pen with tuna to Malta. Sea Shepherd volunteers on board the ship Steve Irwin reportedly rammed the pen.

Sea Shepherd is an international non-profit, marine wildlife conservation organisation. Similar skirmishes on the high seas have occurred between Greenpeace and Maltese tuna ranchers. According to the Sea Shepherd blog, the group spent nine days of “intensive searching” by ship and helicopter and had not found any illegal tuna fishing operations. Also patrolling the triangular stretch of water between Malta, Tunisia and Libya are the Greenpeace ships Arctic Sunrise and the Rainbow Warrior, with a helicopter in addition to the Sea Shepherd’s Steve Irwin.

The group says that numerous naval vessels from Italy, France, and Malta and even a Libyan warship are also patrolling the area. “It appears that illegal fishing has been seriously reduced this year and thanks to the European Commission decision to close the European fishery on 9 June, I believe the bluefin tuna catch has been seriously diminished this season,” Sea Shepherd captain Paul Watson wrote in his blog. “One thing is clear is that the fishing companies are not happy, and that also is good news for the Bluefin… despite the fact that it appears quiet, we intend to continue our surveillance of the seas in search of possible poachers. The small long liners and trawlers that we see are most likely keeping the fishing community aware that we are continuing our patrols.”

PN reaction
The Nationalist Party expressed "deep concern" over the incident. "In actions that can be described at best as fanatical, the campaigners aboard the Steve Irwin have been putting Maltese fishermen’s life and limb in jeopardy... The Partit Nazzjonalista strongly condemns this violent aggression being waged by the Sea Shepherd campaigners who are also harming Maltese workers’ interests and Malta’s economy."

The PN Praised the Armed Forces of Malta "for defending Malta’s interests and those of Maltese tuna fishermen. The Partit Nazzjonalista notes that Maltese fishermen are engaged in perfectly lawful activities and the actions by the Sea Shepherd campaigners are contrary to the basic principles and behaviour. There are other ways and means how Sea Shepherd can voice its message and wage its campaign, but aggression against Maltese fishermen is definitely not one of them."