Karmenu Vella praises local support for sustainable fishing

European Fisheries Commissioner Karmenu Vella praised the fisheries secretariat’s work in support of sustainable fishing. During a tour of the Degre fishing boat, Vella said that projects such as this were essential for the EU to receive data about fish species populations and subsequently create policies to address any drops in populations.

Fisheries Parliamentary Secretary Roderick Galdes said that the secretariat had done a lot of work to extract information about fish populations. The department was collecting data about fish stocks on a regular basis to monitor numbers and trends.

Galdes explained that these numbers would then be sent to DG Mare and divided amongst the various member states, so that the EU can decide on the best policies to adopt according to fish populations.

He also added that fishing had a particular character in the country, with some 90% of fishing boats being smaller vessels and only a handful of boats like the Degre.

“This vessel is being used to carry out scientific research to determine very specific information about specific catches,” Galdes said adding that there were areas on the boat for sorting fish from other species and another table where research into the age, gender and health of the fish was carried out.

Director General of the fisheries department Andreina Fenech Farrugia pointed out that the country had an obligation to sail out with a vessel to carry out these detailed catches for 15 days a year.  Fenech Farrugia explained that the vessel was selected after a call for tenders was issued by the department and  that the same size and type of nets as well as locations were used in order to ensure as much accuracy as possible.

Vella said that the EU had given the maltese fisheries department €3.5 million in funds for the next seven year period, which amounts to around half a million every year.

“The European Union wants to spread a practice of sustainable fishing both around EU member states and on vessels operating for the EU outside its waters. The only way to know whether fishing practices are sustainable or not is through research into fish stocks,” Vella said.

He also added that the EU is in a constant battle against Illegal Unreported and Unregulated fishing (IUU), which amounts to 15% of all fish caught globally.

“This is a shocking number particularly considering that the EU catches a mere 5% of the fish caught around the world. Encouraging sustainable fishing is a way of fighting this negative phenomenon,” Vella added.