Maltese tuna fishers had their catch quota increased in an “unprecedented” move announced by the Fisheries Parliamentary Secretary on Tuesday.

Malta’s national catch quota for the upcoming 2019 tuna fishing season will be 353 tonnes, an increase of 34 tonnes over the amount legally caught in 2018.

The quota was announced at a press conference at Marsaxlokk, an event that was heavily attended by local fishers.

Clint Camilleri said that in previous years the entire fishing quota was shared among large operators that were set up to catch blue fin tuna.

This year, however, the authorities have come out with a system that will see 63 of the large operators allowed to catch 299 tonnes, and another 52 operators with boats no longer than 12 metres, allowed to catch an additional 40.5 tonnes.

This is the first time that smaller operators will legally fish for blue fin tuna.

Fisheries Parliamentary Secretary Clint Camilleri announced the tuna quota on Tuesday

Claire Abela, a senior fisheries protection officer explained that the 52 smaller operators would need to have caught at least 400 kilos of swordfish last year to qualify for the tuna quota.

An additional nine tonnes have been allotted as by-catch, and two tonnes have also been allotted for recreational fishing.

Mr Camilleri said the new quota system was geared towards facilitating the operations of larger fishers, while also encouraging smaller operators to enter the game.

Tuna farms to face harsher enforcement

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Environment Ministry told Times of Malta that efforts were under way to increase enforcement measures on the tuna ranching industry.

Maltese tuna farming was thrust into the international spotlight after an international investigation found that it was at the centre of an EU-wide black market operation.

Read: How the Tuna racket operated

The months-long investigation by Spanish authorities, dubbed 'Operation Tarantelo', overseen by Europol, uncovered a network of shell companies and distributors that have allegedly been funnelling illegal tuna catches from Maltese waters and Malta-based fish farms to Spain via Italy and France.

A network of 79 individuals – none Maltese – have been arrested, and more than 80,000 kilos of illicit bluefin tuna were seized.

Speaking form the sidelines of Tuesday’s press conference, the spokesman said that controlled transfers of tuna farmed in Malta would be increased to weed out abuse.

These transfers see the large fish moved from one pen to another by a team of professional divers who then count the fish to ensure that illegally caught tuna is not being fattened along with regular catches.

Mr Camilleri, on the other hand, was reluctant to get into the details of the alleged racket its aftermath, saying that magisterial inquiries were establishing the facts.

He did say, however, that a new committee had been set up, tasked with implementing the recommendations of a number of shelved reports into the industry, including an audit by the Auditor General.