Malta to seek higher quota for tuna catches

Malta is to campaign within the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT) to be allocated a higher quota for the catches of blue finned tuna, Rural Affairs Minister George Pullicino told parliament yesterday.

He was speaking during a short debate in the House which ended with the approval of a motion for Malta to join ICCAT.

Mr Pullicino explained that to date Malta did not actually have a quota allocated to it, but on the basis of the mechanism for the allocation of quotas for non-members, it had always been assumed that the local quota was of between 300 and 350 tons.

The commission, he said, grouped 37 countries and the European Union. To date Malta had had observer status but in view of new regulations on the allocation of quotas, Malta risked losing out, especially if it remained a non-member.

Mr Noel Farrugia, opposition spokesman on fisheries and agriculture, said it needed to be observed that Malta also needed to form part of ICCAT in view of membership of the EU.

It was true that to date it had been the practice of successive governments for Malta to only have observer status in the commission, as it was a member of the UN's General Fisheries Council of the Mediterranean.

Malta had had a quota of 300 tons of tuna, some of which went for the domestic market while the rest was exported.

Maltese fishermen used traditional fishing methods rather then purseiners which not only harmed tuna but also trapped other species such as dolphins and sea turtles.

Malta had argued that there should be a balance and quotas should only be imposed on those countries which allowed fishing by these nets which were harmful to all fish stocks.

Once Malta joined the EU, would it be able to make its own recommendations to ICCAT on the basis of domestic needs, or would recommendations have to be made through the EU, in terms of the Common Fisheries policy, thus diluting Malta's voice?

Would Malta continue to enjoy the quota of 300 tons or would a quota be awarded to the EU as a whole, leading to the possibility of Maltese fishermen actually ending up with a lower quota?

Maltese fishermen needed a guarantee that the current quota would be retained, he insisted.

Concluding the debate, Mr Pullicino said that in view of changes in 2002 to the regulations on the allocation of tuna quotas, Malta risked being allocated a lower quota.

The assumption that Malta had a quota of 300 tons could only be made up to last year when quotas were allocated on the basis of the higher of fish catches in 1993 and 1994 reduced by 25 per cent. This criteria had applied also to non-contracting parties which led Malta to assume, because nothing was formal, a quota of some 300 tons for blue fin tuna.

Therefore, one could not guarantee a quota of 300-350 tons when nothing had formally existed in Malta's case to date.

In 2002, ICCAT radically changed its rules on quota allocations and the quota for the non-contracting countries was likely to be reduced over the coming three years to 800 tons. Could anyone imagine Malta having a share of some 300 tons from 800 tons?

This motion, therefore, had nothing to do with whether or not Malta joined the EU. Countries such as Egypt had also decided to become a contracting party of ICCAT.

Mr Pullicino said adopting ICCAT would also oblige Malta to participate in studies and to supply data on the markets and to ensure that catches respected ICCAT's conventions.

Referring to the use of purseiners, Mr Pullicino said the fact that Malta had not invested in this type of technology meant that Malta's assumed quota had remained relatively low. Indeed, Malta would be campaigning for the quota to be raised.

Once Malta joined the EU, it would be eligible for a share of the EU quota. The EU was the biggest group within ICCAT and thus Malta would have a stronger voice in ICCAT than were it to have remained on its own.

Talks on the quota allocation would be held in October and he expected the EU to back Malta's demand for a higher quota because a higher quota for Malta would mean a higher quota for the EU when Malta joined the EU in May.

Mr Pullicino said that Malta, clearly, had no choice but to join ICCAT. It was in serious danger of losing out if it stayed out. Joining ICCAT and the EU would put Malta in a better position to obtain a suitable quota.