The Office of the European Commission Representation in Malta, has said that it would like to clarify points made in the statement by MEP Alfred Sant that “EU directives would have curtailed the livelihood and the future of Maltese and Gozitan traditional fishermen is not correct.”

It pointed out that “to the contrary: timely action by the EU and its partner countries to recover Bluefin tuna, as well as efforts made by fishermen all throughout Europe, has led to the progressive recovery of the stock and will help ensure the long term sustainability of the fishery. Action on Bluefin Tuna has already resulted in a quota increase of more than 60% in the last three years.”

Regarding “lampuki” fishery, it said that “there are no limitations of the amount of catches of “lampuki.”

Regarding the allocation of quotas to different fleet sectors: “The allocation of quotas to different fleet segments within a Member State is the exclusive responsibility of that particular Member State. Malta can decide how it allocates quotas as long as this is done according to objective and transparent criteria. This is true for all species subject to quotas, including bluefin tuna and swordfish,” the EC statement read.

Regarding swordfish: It said that “Mediterranean swordfish was previously managed through a set of technical measures, including closure periods. However, these measures were not effective and in 2016 the ICCAT scientists indicated that the stock is subject to severe overfishing and that a substantial reduction of the fishing mortality was required to bring this stock back to sustainable levels.”

“The scope of the required reduction in fishing mortality is such that it also requires the introduction of quotas. Consequently, the ICCAT Commission adopted a recovery plan under which the fishing mortality will be reduced via a mix approach, involving both new technical measures and gradually decreasing quotas (at a ratio of 3% each year from 2018 to 2022).”

The Commission said that “the recovery plan will improve the stock and at the same time improve over the medium term the profitability of the fleet. Without such action, the fleet would have to suffer serious negative socio-economic consequences and emergency measures could have to be taken.”

It added, “the total allowable catches agreed by ICCAT for Mediterranean swordfish for 2017 is 10 500 t. The share of the EU was fixed at more than 70%, that is 7 410, 48 t. This is more than what the EU has fished in 2012, 2013 and 2014.”

The Office of the European Commission Representation in Malta concluded by saying that Member States must now decide how to allocate the EU share among themselves.

Photograph by Alain Salvary

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