The European Commission has confirmed allegations that Malta’s tuna ranches are in breach of a number of regulations – including the double registration of one tuna ranch operator, and the declaration of two non-operational tuna farms – in a letter sent to Alternattiva Demokratika (AD) yesterday.
On Tuesday 3 September, AD chairman Arnold Cassola requested the Commission’s DG Mare to investigate allegations, published by MaltaToday the previous Sunday, that the Ministry of Resources and Rural Affairs (MRRA) may have falsely declared the capacity of Maltese tuna ranches industry to the international tuna industry regulator, ICCAT.
MaltaToday revealed how Mediterranean Tuna Ltd, with a capacity of 350 metric tonnes, had been declared operational for every year since 1999 – despite the fact that the ranch has not physically existed since 2002. Also, the 1,500 tonne-capacity Deep Sea Aquaculture farm was listed as operational in April this year, although its licence officially expired last December.
Contacted yesterday, Cassola confirmed that the European Commission replied to AD’s request late yesterday. The letter contained the following details:
That the number of registered farms does not match up to the number of sites;
That AJD Tuna Ltd, a subsidiary of Azzopardi Fisheries, is registered as a tuna ranch operator under two different ICCAT register numbers;
That a Commission inspection in June 2008 had already revealed that Malta’s tuna ranching capacity may be much greater than that declared to ICCAT (i.e., 12,000 tonnes), and;
That Mediterranean Tuna Ltd and Deep Sea Aquaculture had not declared any caging information to the Commission, with the result that their activities could not be properly monitored.
The Commission is also waiting for the release of Japanese and Eurostat trade data, in order to investigate alleged discrepancies between Malta’s export declarations and the amount of bluefin tuna physically exported. This information is expected to materialise in early 2009.
“This reply seems to confirm that there were irregularities in Malta’s declarations to the EU,” Cassola said. “From my understanding, it is very strange that a single operator would be registered under two different ICCAT register numbers. Also, the fact that two supposedly operative farms did not supply caging declarations is significant.”
Tuna ranching is currently under the spotlight after a panel of independent experts, appointed by ICCAT to report on the present state of tuna fisheries, recommended a closure of the Mediterranean bluefin tuna fishery, precisely because of flagrant breaches of international law.
The Northern bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynus) is a critically endangered species.
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