WWF accuses Italy of laundering tuna through Malta

Raphael Vassallo
Malta’s alleged role in an international bluefin tuna racket was yesterday highlighted once more by the World Wildlife Fund, in a report which accuses Italy of overshooting its total allocated catch by as much as 38%.
According to WWF, over 800 tonnes of this excess catch would have been inputted to Maltese cages by Italian vessels this year. The bluefin tuna is a critically endangered species, believed to be on the verge of total stocks collapse in the Mediterranean. It can fetch up to €20 a kilo on the Japanese market.
Entitled ‘Lifting the lid on Italy’s bluefin tuna industry’, the WWF report reveals that the Italian bluefin tuna fishing fleet is almost double its officially reported size of 185 vessels, and that illegal spotter planes regularly fly from a number of Mediterranean airports, including Malta.
The report was complied by consultancy firm ATRT/SL, and presented yesterday to both the Italian government and the European Commissioner for Fisheries, Dr Joe Borg.

“The independent and exhaustive report contradicts Italian government claims that the early closure of the Mediterranean bluefin tuna fishery this year meant Italy would not reach its tuna quota, finding instead that the 2008 catch was a minimum of 700 tonnes over quota,” WWF said in a statement.
“This comes on top of findings that Italian fishers were 40% over quota on the imperilled fishery for 2007, more than five times in excess of the officially admitted over-run of just 327 tonnes.”
In order to conceal these illegal catches, Italian flotillas of purse-seiner fishing vessels are understood to transfer live tuna into cages in other countries, allegedly to pass off that fish as having been caught under their national quotas.
The WWF report singles out Malta, Croatia and Tunisia as recipients of illegally caught bluefin tuna.
“Illegal or unrecorded diversions of the Italian tuna catch in both 2007 and 2008 occurred into fish farms in Croatia, Malta and Tunisia – in addition to unrecorded domestic consumption and mislabelled exports,” the WWF stated.
“Finally, a further 1,159 tonnes of tuna are estimated to have been caught by Italian seiners and transferred to farms in Malta and Tunisia during 2008.”
With a declared farming capacity of 12,000 tonnes and a national quota which is rarely even approximated by its humble long-line tuna fishery, Malta is an ideal candidate for this kind of operation.
In fact, the report suggests that over 800 tonnes of the endangered fish were transferred into Maltese cages in 2008. Of these, 236.76 tonnes were transferred to Ta’ Mattew Fish Farms Ltd and Fish & Fish tuna ranches. A further 12.5 tonnes were inputted to Mare Blu Ltd’s cages, while the largest amount by far – 590 tonnes – found its way into AJD Tuna Ltd’s ranch off St Paul’s Islands, according to the WWF report.
The total worth of this fish stands at around €1.6 million.
The report also suggests that illegal spotter planes, used to track down shoals of tuna from the air, regularly make use of the Malta International Airport.
“Italy also has served as a hub for a number of foreign registered aircraft flying for Italian BFT fishing companies or for foreign BFT PS vessels operative in Central Mediterranean, around the Islands of Pantelleria, Lampedusa and Malta,” the report observes.
Three of the aircraft involved in bluefin tuna spotting activities have been photographed at the MIA in 2004 and 2007.
MaltaToday has been reporting on Malta’s alleged involvement in the international bluefin tuna laundering racket since July 30, but to date there has been no local investigation into the repeated claims made by international organisations such as Greenpeace and the World Wildlife Fund.
Fisheries Director Dr Anthony Gruppetta has consistently denied reports of Malta’s involvement in this trade, the most recent instance being today (see letters pages). The Office of the Prime Minister, who is also the Minister for the Environment, has not commented on these allegations.
Meanwhile, five of Malta’s six bluefin tuna ranches are suing this newspaper for publishing the claims made by these international organisations.

rvassallo@mediatoday.com.mt

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