Hundreds of fishermen braved the strong wind and incessant rain yesterday morning to stage a protest march over a fisheries management plan that has been submitted to the EU by the government.
PN politics is worse than the war for in war you only get killed once.
The protesters repeatedly called on Rural Affairs Minister George Pullicino to resign.
They complained they had not been consulted on the plan and said its measures would be detrimental to their livelihood.
The plan has not been released to the press. According to the fishermen, it means trawlers will not be able to be put to work for more than 150 days a year and that trawler boats will be phased out. They said the plan also stipulated that purse seiners would be banned.
The government reacted by saying the plan was not cast in stone.
The fishermen, some of whom were accompanied by their wives and children, arrived at the Park and Ride in Floriana from Marsaxlokk on coaches. In the gear they usually wear out at sea, they walked to Minister Pullicino’s office at Beltissebħ and called on him to step down because, they claimed, he was being hostile towards their representatives.
Carrying a banner accusing Mr Pullicino of “arrogance”, the fishermen proceeded to Parliament and then walked up to Castille.
Fishing cooperative president Ray Bugeja handed out a letter at each of the three stops, first to a representative from the fisheries ministry, then to Labour fisheries spokesman Tony Agius Decelis and finally to Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi’s personal assistant.
They also returned, in two transparent garbage bags, the letters Mr Pullicino sent them earlier this week rebutting claims by their representatives that he was being hostile.
They held up placards with a variety of messages including: “Budget for 2012 = Zero” and “PN politics is worse than the war for in war you only get killed once”. They chanted “Pullicino pulċinell” (clown) and “Ma rriduhx” (We don’t want him) .
Speaking to journalists at the end of the protest, Mr Bugeja said no scientific studies had been carried out on the plan before it was submitted to the EU. He said yesterday’s protest was the first and promised that more will follow until they were consulted. The fishermen said the government’s plans would lead to a reduction of fishing for several types of fish and leave them without a future.
“We want to work but they won’t let us,” one fisherman said.
The ministry said that following a meeting with the cooperative earlier this month, it had asked it for concrete proposals. It had been waiting for their report, which it had just been given during the protest.
These proposals, it said, would be evaluated in the coming days and would serve as the basis for further discussions with the cooperative. A meeting between the government and the cooperative was in fact called yesterday afternoon.
The ministry said the management plan was submitted to the EU because time was pressing. Nothing was cast in stone as the plan still had to be discussed.
But it said the limitation on trawlers was not being imposed only on Malta but also on Tunisia, Libya, Italy and Cyprus.
On the scrapping of trawlers, it insisted this would only happen if there was adequate compensation.
And with regard to purse seiners, the ministry said it was proposing that a scientific study be carried out based on information provided by the fishermen in a bid to create a sustainable fishing programme.