Monitoring in international waters – a reassurance for lampuki fishermen

Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Animal Rights Anton Refalo said the government is committed to implementing the necessary monitoring during the lampuki season in order to prevent as much as possible the historical problems that Maltese and Gozitans face during this important season.

He said, “Following the successes of working in the Mediterranean regional  together with the European Union, today we are at a time when we can safeguard lampuki fishermen from threats to their work due to a clash of conflicts in international waters’.

For the first time in the year 2020, the Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture within the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Animal Rights has planned a series of monitoring activities covering the areas of interest. where the lampuki lines of Maltese and Gozitan fishermen are usually cast. These areas mainly cover the seas around the Maltese islands which extend to the high seas.

The Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture has held several talks with the competent authorities in order to monitor the waters in collaboration and assistance with the same department in accordance with GFCM recommendation point number 32 of the same recommendation, which establishes that, “It shall be prohibited for a CPC (country) vessel to catch fish from a FAD (headline) which has not been established by this vessel of the same CPC (country)”.

In the coming months the government will be in talks with the Secretariat of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean to further expand the monitoring of lampuki fisheries under the scope of joint inspection schemes to enable them. allow a better scope of inspections on foreign fishing vessels.