Karl Stagno-Navarra The skipper and crew of the Italian fishing boat ‘Mamma Maria’, intercepted fishing illegally in Maltese waters by an AFM patrol boat, have asked for clemency from the President of the Republic over a €35,000 fine imposed on him by the Courts of Malta.
Francesco Giacalone, 44 of Mazara del Vallo, wrote to President George Abela through his lawyers Michael and Adrian Camilleri who have taken up his case.
Giacalone, who together with his five-man crew have been living off the assistance from Maltese they befriended since ordered into Valletta on 25 January, claims he cannot raise the money.
The ‘Mamma Maria’ is not his and belongs to a fishing company in Mazara del Vallo that is also in serious financial difficulties given the current economic climate.
With an average wage of €1,000 per month, the seamen have been left with no money in their pockets, while a catch estimated to be worth €15,000 was also confiscated by order of the courts.
In his request, Giacalone insists he fully cooperated with the authorities.
“I have never fished illegally ever. I was inside Malta’s exclusive fishing zone because I never knew Malta had an off-limits area that extended to 25 miles from the coast, while the norm is 12 miles. I was also sheltering from extremely bad weather,” he said.
Giacalone also recalled his previous cooperation with the AFM when responding to numerous requests for assistance to illegal migrants on the high seas, and that he had also joined the search for the missing crewmen of the Simshar, which had ended in tragedy.
Meanwhile, the president of the fishermen’s coop Ray Bugeja has repeatedly appealed to the authorities for “common sense” rather than persist with draconian action.
Maltese and Italian fishermen have a strong bond of cooperation, and often enter each other’s waters, fish together and trade between them.
The Sicilian crew remain onboard their boat in Marsa under police and AFM surveillance.
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