In a letter from EU Commissioner Joe Borg’s office to Arnold Cassola, Chairperson of Alternattiva Demokratika – The Green Party, the Commssioner’s spokesperson confirmed that there are various discrepancies in the figures quoted by the Maltese tuna farm industry. The story was first reported in newspaper Maltatoday. AD had then asked the Commission to look into the issue.

Prof. Cassola said, “The EU Commission not only confirms that there is discrepancy in the figures for Maltese caught tuna given by the Japanese and the Maltese authorities, but also that there are five different Maltese tuna farms with cages in six different sites registered and of these tuna farms two have actually not declared any caging information.”

“What seems a bit strange is also the fact that one of these Maltese farms has got two different ICCAT register numbers,” concluded Arnold Cassola.

Carmel Cacopardo, Alternattiva Demokratika spokesperson on sustainable development and local government, added: “the Big-business tuna industry has not only become unsustainable, but it is also killing Maltese traditional fishing and threatening the livelihood of small fishermen who use sustainable methods.”

Commissioner Joe Borg’s spokesman concludes the letter by saying that the Commission is waiting for the definitive statistics for 2008, to be ready in March 2009, to see what concrete action is to be taken. AD believes that Maltese fishermen should be protected and helped; it is unacceptable that big-business is left to pillage and plunder our common resources and flaunt regulations and rules put in place to ensure sustainability and a level playing field for all.