Deterioration of life under the sea

I refer to the letter Fish Farming And Diving Tourism by Alex Buttigieg (October 26) and the letter The Never-Ending Story by Robert Aquilina (October 16).

As a diver who has visited Malta a dozen of times by now, I would like to add a diving tourist's point of view to the discussion.

I dived in St Paul's Bay before the establishment of fish farms and I always was enchanted by the number of fish, the very good visibility and the diversity of the flora.

Mr Aquilina states in his letter that the fish farm was not set directly upon a diving site - well, that's right! But his farms have obviously an environmental impact on the whole bay because, judging by my experience, since the fish farms were established the formerly excellent marine life conditions grow worse every time I return to the diving sites in St Paul's Bay.

There is hardly a fish to spot, a lot of mud on the ground, nearly no octopuses at all, where there used to be lots of them. Fortunately, there are other diving sites still worth visiting but I remember a reasonable number of divers saying they won't return to dive in Maltese waters because, among other reasons such as general pollution and higher fares for Air Malta flights, the marine life has become so poor.

Why does the Maltese government allow fish farms to be established near diving sites? One should presume that there is enough space in Maltese waters to put fish farms in an area where they do not affect diving sites. To put it cynically, I suppose the government just does not see the problem because it is under the surface.

If requested, I can recommend to members of Parliament one or other diving centres to teach them how to dive and have the possibility to see the problem for themselves.