For those not acquainted with fishing techniques jargon, trammel nets consist of a number of layers of fine-mesh nets, held vertically in the water by bottom weights (the lead line) and surface floats (the float line).
The Maltese word for this fishing technique – parit – is quite revealing, being derived from Italian parete, literally translated as a ‘vertical wall’.
Trammel nets are considered by many to be a scourge, on two counts – the technique is non-selective and results in a considerable quantity of fish being discarded.
This is the major problem for larvae and fry of pelagic and demersal fish species. According to official statistics, 17 per cent of the 2,100 or so small-scale registered fishing vessels in Malta regularly use trammel nets. This might not seem to be overtly high percentage but it still constitutes a sizeable number of fishing boats – 353.
Local fishing legislation stipulates that trammel nets cannot be deployed within bays and creeks on the inside of an imaginary line drawn between two stone pillars lying on opposite sides of the mouth of such bays, in order to safeguard the young offspring of fish during the most active stages of reproduction.
But this legislation is frequently flouted by fishermen who capitalise on the fact that the system of stone pillars is not implemented everywhere. The accompanying photo is a case in point, with the full-time fisherman in question deploying trammel nets at most 10 to 15 metres away from the coast at Peter’s Pool close to Delimara.
The most worrying aspect about this case is the fact that the culprit in question is an MFA licence holder – that is, a full-time fisherman – who should realise that plying his trade so close to shore might be jeopardising his livelihood.
The coastal waters off southeast Malta are a hotbed of trammel net deployment, and this nullifies any glimmer of hope that coastal fish populations might one day recover for the benefit of snorkellers, scuba divers and anglers.
The grapevine has it that local fisheries control authorities are mulling imposing a minimum distance from the coast at which trammel nets should be deployed, with the distance of 300m being touted at the moment.
As they say, the devil is in the detail, and the ushering in of such a welcome development might be bogged down in endless consultations and arm-twisting by those whose interest it is to maintain the status quo.
Undermining the appeals process
The latest chapter in the Wied l-Għasel development saga (where the construction of 24 apartments and 26 garages on the valley sides and within the valley bed is being proposed) unfolded last March when the hearing for the appeal lodged against the development was meant to be heard.
It was more of an anticlimax, as the hearing was deferred to September 20, with the developer being granted the opportunity to start works before the hearing.
Conducting an appeals process against the backdrop of ongoing works is a contradiction in itself, but timing is on the developers’ side – in fact, the latest reform of the Malta Environment and Planning Authority, which sought to plug this loophole, only applies to permits issued after last January 1, while the Wied l-Għasel permit pre-dates this.
Judging from the frenetic pace at which developers are conducting works on site (with excavations expected to start over the coming days), come next September the Planning Appeals Board will be presented with a fait accompli.
By then, the last farmer (or field?) at Wied l-Għasel will have long since vanished, and the outcome of the appeal hearing would be a foregone conclusion. This is a travesty of the planning process itself.
Different angle to the Libyan war
The human toll of the Libyan civil war is understandably in the news regularly, even though its full dimension is far from being accurately documented due to journalists’ restricted access to the country.
The environmental impact of the war is open to speculation. For instance, it has been suggested that the prolongation of the war might undermine the bluefin tuna industry since as long as the conflict continues no access is possible to Libyan waters, which have long been considered as the most fertile fishing grounds for the species.
In addition, European Commissioner for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Maria Damanaki, has proposed a ban on bluefin tuna fishing in Libyan waters due to concerns that while it is in the throes of the current conflict the country will be unable to honour and enforce all quota provisions of ICCAT (the inter-governmental body entrusted with managing tuna stocks in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic).
Access to Libyan waters might not be on the cards anytime soon but fishing by Libyan-flagged vessels might still proceed, as a number of such vessels, operated by French fishermen, are currently docked in French ports, such as Sete.
The conflict in Libya may also spell disaster for the thousands of loggerhead turtles that nest along its coast, especially if it extends over the summer months. The largely pristine Libyan coastline is, in fact, purported to host up to 60 per cent of all loggerhead turtle nesting sites in the Mediterranean, with the highest concentration of these beach nesting sites being located close to the cantres of the conflict – that is, the Gebel El-Akhdar (Green Mountains) area – close to Benghazi.
Libyan coastal waters are also purportedly good feeding grounds for the green turtle. Marine biologists have only of late started to understand the massive extent of turtle nesting along Libya’s shores through tagging experiments.
Sandy beaches have so far not borne the brunt of military operations in Libya, and the actual impact on the turtle nesting is impossible to gauge.
One hopes that the annual cycle of turtle nesting along Libya’s shores, which has progressed unhindered for millenniums, is not compromised as a result of man’s actions, so that the population of this charismatic marine species in the Mediterranean will not be decimated, as has largely happened in the case of the monk seal, whose numbers in the wild have dwindled.
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