New plan to tackle threat of spear-fishing to Cerna

Management plans for marine protected areas will address the threat posed by spear-fishing to the Dusky Grouper (Maltese: cerna), a gentle giant of the sea targeted by many artisanal and sport-fishing activities, and a favourite fish in Maltese restaurants.

But a plan proposed in 2012 proposing concrete measures, including the certification of restaurants, to save the dusky grouper, has been shelved. 

Instead the Environment and Resources Authority is addressing the conservation of a variety of marine species through the preparation of a “relevant strategic policy” and “the preparation of Marine Protected Areas (MPA) management plans”.

The MPA plans will be developed following extensive consultation with relevant stakeholders, including the Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture (DFA). 

“Measures related to spear-fishing with aqualungs, the regulation of fishing gear and minimum conservation reference sizes for the groupers, will be addressed in these regulations,” the ERA said.

The last action plan outlining measures costing €70,000 to protect the grouper was drawn up in 2011 and issued for public consultation in May 2012. The action plan was based on a three-year programme to set up four marine areas of special interest and study further these potential sites for grouper conservation.

One of the measures proposed was a certification scheme for restaurants sourced by sustainable fishing practices, to encourage restaurants to buy unharpooned and correctly-sized specimens. 

The grouper is already included in the Flora, Fauna and Natural Habitats Protection Regulations of 2006, which comprise animals and plants of national interest and whose exploitation may be subject to management measures.

Until a few years ago, groupers were in dramatic decline around the Mediterranean. Marine reserves slowed down the decline, and they can now be encountered in reasonably high densities, thanks also to moratoria and the ban on spear fishing for groupers.

However, according to the 2011 report the situation in Malta has remained much the same, since no such moratoria exist and encounters with groupers are still very sporadic and rare.

The fish can live up to 50 years and can reach a weight of 35kg, living in rocky coastal areas of the Mediterranean Sea. But its unique vulnerability is a result of the biological characteristics of the slow growing creature, which inverts sex when it reaches 12 years of age. 

Four new marine protected areas, covering over 18,000 hectares of the Maltese marine environment, have been designated by the Planning Authority. But these sites still lack management plans. The sites include a significant stretch of area along the North East of the Islands and three smaller areas at Mġarr ix-Xini, Dwejra and an area between Għar Lapsi and Filfa.