Earlier this week, the European Commission approved Malta’s request to increase the maximum amount of fish that can enter tuna farms in Malta for the 2021 tuna season.
In a bilateral meeting with the European Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries Virginijus Sinkevicus, the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries, Food and Animal Rights Anton Refalo thanked him for this decision. In addition, Minister Anton Refalo promised full cooperation from the Maltese authorities in the process of strengthening controls on tuna farms. For his part, the Commissioner expressed appreciation for this work, while pointing out that there is more room for improvement progressively on other issues as well.
Minister Refalo expressed his satisfaction with this decision as this is a certificate that Malta is doing a good job after a very difficult period for this sector. The decision of the European Commission to accept the request for an increase gives new life to the tuna sector, which is a very important sector for our country, especially in these difficult times. In fact, the increase approved on the basis of the current regulations is 1,474,492 tonnes which leads to a total of 10,260,492 tonnes of a maximum amount of fish that can enter tuna farms in Malta for the fishing season.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food and Animal Rights is committed to continuing the positive reform taking place in the Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture in order to ensure the implementation of good control and enforcement practices in compliance with Maltese and European laws, for the good and sustainability of the sector.
