Don’t yield to fish farm blackmail, green NGOs warn

Environmental NGOs and independent MP Marlene Farrugia’s newly-fledged Partit Demokratiku have urged the authorities not to give in to “blackmail” by fish farm operators who say revoking their permits could harm the economy.

“The Planning Authority’s failure to take action on the long-standing illegal operations by tuna ranchers and other fish farm operators is yet another example that money comes first and the environment last,” vice-president Simone Mizzi of environmental group Din l-Art Helwa told MaltaToday. “If business is allowed to blackmail the state so blatantly, we can give up striving for the good governance required to protect the environment in all aspects of its management. There will be anarchy.”

Mizzi warned that most bays where fish farms operate are no longer pleasant to swim in - a problem that NGOs have been forecasting for years.

“Our sea is our most important resource, and Din l-Art Helwa looks forward to a permanent solution that will allow us to enjoy our seas again,” she said.

The Planning Authority on Tuesday decided against revoking the permits of four fish farms off Marsascala, St Paul’s Bay and Comino, despite revelations that over half their fish cages were illegal. Instead, they gave farm operators a two-week ultimatum to reach an agreement with the authorities on how to address their illegalities and relocate further offshore.

Two of the farms in question are operated by AJD Tuna Ltd., one by Fish and Fish, and another by Malta Fish Farming.

During the PA board meeting, the fish farm operators and their lawyers warned that revoking the permits will see fish farm operators lose €150 million, and risk destroying the entire industry.

“If the fish farm industry fails, the impact on the Maltese economy would be disastrous,” lawyer Pio Valletta warned. “The PA shouldn’t just look at the regulations, but at the consequences of their decisions.”

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said he is disappointed at the PA’s decision, as the industry had years to address their illegalities. 

However the fish farm operators found support in Opposition leader Simon Busuttil, who pointed out that hundreds of workers rely on the fish farm industry for their daily bread.

But environmentalists insisted that fish farm operators should not be allowed to use their economic clout and workers’ jobs as leverage to get their illegalities sanctioned.

“The authorities are yet again using employment numbers as a pretext to drag its feet on enforcement,” Flimkien ghal Ambjent Ahjar coordinator Astrid Vella told MaltaToday. “This gives the clear message that the larger the industry, the more its abuse will be tolerated. If handled properly, aquaculture can provide a good source of food for human consumption, however it must be recommended that the sea belongs to everyone, and that fish farms must operate with respect for the public.”

She added: “FAA maintains that zero tolerance should be the Planning Authority’s priority both on land and at sea.”

Vella also expressed concern that the PA’s ruling on Tuesday did not set out clear deadlines as to when the plan should be concluded and all illegalities removed, nor did it refer to increased monitoring of the industry, or impose the ‘polluter pays’ principle by fining them as compensation for the slimy foam pollution caused by their fish feed.

Friends of the Earth Malta director Martin Galea de Giovanni further lambasted the fish operators’ economic argument as a “ridiculous” one that can lead down a slippery slope.

“This tactic has already been used by the construction magnates over and over again,” he said. “Unfortunately, the authorities seem to give in every time jobs and the economy are mentioned. We are of course not against having more jobs and a sound economy, but wouldn’t the economy suffer and jobs be shed if our seas are polluted too?

“The interests of a few individuals who have been raking in considerable profits should not come before the health, well-being and quality of life of honest and law-abiding citizens.”

De Giovanni urged the authorities to revoke the permits of the fish farms in question and impose heavy fines on them, noting that they have made a hefty profit from their illegal operations.

‘This would not have happened in a normal democracy’ – Farrugia

Meanwhile, Independent MP Marlene Farrugia – founder of the Democratic Party and a vocal critic of the Labour government’s environmental shortcomings – argued that failing to revoke fish farm permits if they remain intransigent will damage the tourism sector, which is the heart of the Maltese economy.

“Our beautiful beaches and crystal clear waters are a magnet for tourism - the island’s biggest industry. They are spoiling it: literally idardru l-ghajn li qed nixorbu minnha (polluting the source of our own nourishment). 

In a damning indictment of the state of Maltese politics, Farrugia said that the PA’s decision would have been different in a “normally functioning democracy where institutions are autonomous”.

“Whether one is small fry or a giant octopus, the rule of law should stand and law-breakers punished accordingly,” she told MaltaToday. ““Every time the PA buckles for whatever reason, it loses more of its already deeply-eroded respect and credibility.”

She added that large industries have become accustomed to throwing their weight around, because successive governments have yielded to such blackmail.

“No government should yield an inch, and everyone including large corporations should be equal before the law,” she said. “However, for that to happen, political parties need to raise funds the hard way by state or crowd funding, not selling themselves to industry to secure power.”