Aquaculture department study ‘doesn’t exclude’ fish farms are source of pollution

A study commissioned in the past days and carried out by the Fisheries and Aquaculture Department did not exclude that the source of sludge seen in Malta’s seas on the east side of the island derives from fish farms.

According to the Ministry for the Environment, there are currently five operators in the area, two of which are facing enforcement orders by the Planning Authority. Both cases are at appeals stage; the CEO of the Environment and Resources Authority, Ruben Abela, has informed the Ministry that he will be calling on the environment and planning review tribunal to treat the cases with urgency.

In a statement released this evening, the Ministry announced that the committee tasked with investigating the source of the slime met this morning. The committee, nominated by Environment Minister José Herrera, is composed of Abela, Planning Authority CEO Johann Buttigieg  and Fisheries Department director general Andreina Fenech Farrugia.

The committee is set to draft proposals for stronger enforcement against operators who abuse and draft additional regulations to protect the environment.

“This industry contributes a lot to the economy, but the environment needs to be safeguarded as well,” the Environment Minister said.

Herrera, the statement added, will be making use of “all the powers” granted to him by law to ensure that the regulations are followed.

Swimmers at Marsascala, but not only, have complained of sea sludge and foul smells that have plagued the seas. Similar reports were lodged by visitors in St Paul’s Bay, Delimara, Mistra Bay and Birzebbuga.

Even Archbishop Charles Scicluna, last month, was compelled to take to Twitter to report on the “northerly wind” that had laced the Sirens waterfront with “gelatinous white muck from the fish farms”.