Tuna farm. (Photo: AJD Tuna)
AJD Tuna moves its cages offshore
MALTA
Tuesday, May 23, 2017, 01:10 (GMT + 9)
AJD Tuna has begun dismantling its fish farms in St Paul’s Bay and Comino ahead of the May 31 deadline set by the Planning Authority (PA) for their relocation.
The PA had given AJD and three other companies until the end of May to relocate to a new approved aquaculture zone further offshore, The Malta Times reported.
In addition, the authority had revoked their existing permits last September due to illegalities and harmful environmental practices.
AJD representatives pointed out that the tuna pens at Comino have already been removed, with the mooring blocks scheduled to follow in mid-June once necessary divers and work boats return from the tuna fishing season.
The three cages in St Paul’s Bay, containing carry-over fish, are being moved to a site six kilometres offshore, where they will be kept on tow while awaiting a temporary relocation permit from the PA.
For his part, secretary of the Federation of Maltese Aquaculture Producers John Refalo confirmed that the operators had begun removing buoys and moorings from the St Paul’s Bay site.
Two of the other operators forced to relocate have since obtained concessions to operate in the only existing approved zone, located off the south coast, bringing the site up to its full permitted capacity.
Refalo said the authorities were satisfied with the pace of developments and that that all operators remained committed to complying with the agreement and were hopeful that a permanent solution would be found soon.
AJD has, meanwhile, applied to move four tuna pens from Comino to a new site off St Paul’s Bay but the application is unlikely to be decided by the PA until later this year.
The proposed site is about six kilometres from Qawra Point, having been pushed a further 1.5 kilometres north after objections by Transport Malta and others.
Nicolai Abela, from the campaign group Stop the Slime, said he too considered the proposal acceptable.
Related articles:
- Fish farms are not to be blamed for the slime
- Fish farmers file appeal cage permit revocation
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