Major players in the fisheries industry made campaign contributions to the junior minister responsible for the sector.

Alicia Bugeja Said received a €1,200 donation from industry giants Azzopardi Fisheries, another €2,500 from fish farm operators Malta Fish Farming and €2,500 from fish sellers Frutti Di Mare.

The donations indicate a familiarity between Bugeja Said and industry players, which was likely built up during her work as a director of the fisheries department, prior to becoming a Labour candidate.

In a 2021 Times of Malta opinion piece, Bugeja Said had questioned whether a consultation process on protected marine reserves around the island adequately incorporated the views of fishing communities whose livelihoods depend on marine resources.

“The last time I was speaking to fishers, they raised questions on what could become of the fishing sector should the reserves be enforced,” she wrote.

“If, in the case of fisheries, fishing community livelihoods are not protected by conservation policies through equity-based measures that guarantees their participation in the formulation of management measures, fishers may regard conservation as a threat to their way of life and resist policy measures,” the Labour candidate had highlighted.

With a total declared spend of €15,945 during the election campaign, the donations from the fisheries industry amounted to over one-third of Bugeja Said’s campaign war chest.

The junior minister for fisheries also received €1,400 from events organisers Nexos Lighting and €1,800 from St Catherine’s Caterers.

A further €2,000 in campaign contributions were received from a restaurant and a transport service provider.

According to a breakdown of her campaign spending, Bugeja Said spent €1,900 on printed material, €2,295 on advertising, €400 on stationery and €4,950 on hire costs.

Bugeja Said was appointed to cabinet in April, having made it to parliament thanks to the gender corrective mechanism.

She has a PhD in anthropology and conservation from the University of Kent, with her expertise focusing predominantly on marine and fisheries governance.

Her portfolio includes fisheries, aquaculture and animal rights within the Ministry for Agriculture, Fisheries and Animal Rights.