Qala local council has expressed “grave concern” over a planned private tuna farm off Malta’s north coast.

While the intention is to shift existing tuna farms to a more remote offshore location, the site selected will land tuna pens closer to bays such as Ħondoq ir-Rummien and Comino's Blue Lagoon, the council has noted.  

A technical document commissioned by the council notes that the new farm could lead to oil slicks as large as 10 metres cubed being released each day. If winds blow from the east, they could reach the Gozitan coast in 17 hours. 

“What are we going to do when this oil reaches the coast? Pack up and leave,” wondered Qala mayor Paul Buttigieg.

Buttigieg's fears revive concerns about the tuna farm oil slick crisis that plagued Maltese beaches some years back, and which continues to impact local shores occasionally to this day. 

“Areas like Ħondoq Bay will be affected by this as will the Blue Lagoon,” he said, adding that the development poses serious problems for tourism and Gozo’s local economy.

The waters on Gozo’s south coast are popular spots for divers and bathers, with areas like Ħondoq ir-Rummien popular among both locals and tourists.

What is being planned?

The proposed new North Aquaculture Zone (NAZ) will see Malta’s northern blue-fin tuna rearing facilities relocated from coastal waters to further offshore. Operations are currently located in waters five kilometres from L-Aħrax Peninsula and 4.9 kilometres from Qawra Point.

Those existing fish farms were unable to relocate to an aquaculture zone off Malta's southern coast as that zone grew too big in 2017, when the PA ordered fish farms to relocate offshore to existing aquaculture zones, following widespread complaints about oil slicks caused by excess baitfish feed, fish mucus and thawing ice.  

Operators subsequently submitted an application to relocate to an offshore area off Malta's northern coast, in an area north of Is-Sikka l-Bajda. Things remained at a standstill between 2019 and autumn of 2022, when the Department of Fisheries resumed work to set up the North Aquaculture Zone. 

“While the development is a necessary evil, the current proposed location is badly thought out”, said marine biologist and University of Malta professor Alan Deidun.

“The risk is high... we’re venturing into uncharted waters,” he added, noting that Gozo’s waters have never been home to aquaculture plants so far.

Deidun was engaged by Qala local council to evaluate the results of the EIA report commissioned by the department of fisheries and aquaculture.

In his report, the marine biologist expressed puzzlement at the criterion that the aquaculture zone must not be more than 8km offshore, saying that "it can be safely assumed that this criterion was probably prescribed by the tuna penning operators themselves" to keep costs down. 

An excerpt from the ERA Environmental Impact Assessment.

The EIA notes that 5% of baitfish feed is lost as fish oil every day, citing figures provided by the tuna operators themselves. That amounts to 265kg of fish oil every day per cage. With 34 cages planned, that means the setup will see 9 tonnes of fish oil released daily. 

Tuna operators had introduced a number of mitigation measures to reduce fish oil that escapes the pens, but the EIA document notes that these methods are not 100 per cent efficient. 

In 2021, Malta was the world’s sixth-largest tuna exporter, with exports worth over €150 million annually.