Nature Trust commends minister`s stand

Nature Trust (Malta) yesterday commended the stance taken by Tourism Minister Michael Refalo over tuna farms and their potential to harm the tourism industry.

Dr Refalo recently voiced concern over the effect of tuna penning farms on tourism, saying they should either move further out to sea or close down if they were harming the industry.

"If tuna penning operations harm tourism and are a cause of pollution to our seas, then it is the penning operations which must move further out to sea or close down, not tourism," he said.

The minister said he would be organising a visit to the tuna penning operations with divers and the media, to see for himself whether they caused pollution and harm to the tourist industry.

A Malta Tourism Authority survey had shown that 40,000 divers visited Malta and Gozo annually, with a whole entourage of relatives and friends, with 47 per cent of such divers claiming they had visited Malta more than once.

Nature Trust (Malta) highlighted the need for systematic monitoring of the effects of tuna farms on the sea bed, urging that further permits for tuna farms should be curbed. Nature Trust is also working with the authorities on the proposals for two marine protected areas.