Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1053035
2 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 18 NOVEMBER 2018 NEWS YANNICK PACE THE Director General of the Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture (DFA) has dis- missed that a lack of oversight of Malta's fishing vessel fleet is leaving the door open to smuggling operations. Last week, the Auditor Gen- eral's (AG) office published a report on an audit focusing on the way in which the DFA car- ries out its role its inspector- ate function intended to pro- tect the industry. In its report, the AG's office found that "the vast majority of Malta's fishing fleet" was not equipped with tracking devices such as the Automatic Identification System (AIS), which is installed on all vessels over 15m in length, the Ves- sel Monitoring system (VMS) installed on vessels over 12m and the General Pocket Radio Service (GPRS) which is in- stalled on vessels licensed to fish for protected species. The audit found that 196 of Malta's 376 vessels regis- tered as professional vessels and 507 out 545 registered as part-time vessels, do not have any traffic system whatsoever. This in addition to some 2,012 vessels registered as recrea- tional fishing vessels, which also do not possess any form of tracking system. "NAO is concerned that the vast majority of profes- sional fishing vessels are not equipped with such systems," the audit found, adding that the "DFA has practically no means by which to remotely monitor the movements of a very large portion of the local fishing fleet". The NAO said that vessels which are not equipped with tracking devices, pose the risk of them going at sea and en- gaging in fishing activity out of the official seasons without being tracked by the Depart- ment. "Apart from this principle of limited visibility, NAO here also perceives unfair treat- ment towards fishermen who officially declare their inten- tion to target protected spe- cies while other equally capa- ble vessels which deceivably fail to declare such intentions are left untracked." Beyond the obvious problem with the monitoring of fish stocks, fishermen who spoke with MaltaToday also voiced concerns about smuggling by owners of fishing vessels. They suggested that the de- partment, despite being aware of illegal activity taking place, was not doing all that it could to stem such operations to the extent that could be con- sidered to be aiding and abet- ting such practices. They said that operators with the neces- sary political or DFA contacts could get away with a lot more than most fishermen. In recent years, a number of registered fishing vessels have been detained by local and Libyan authorities over their involvement in smug- gling operations and links to Libyan and Italian smugglers. The fact that several car bomb victims have been registered fishermen has also suggested a turf war between dif- ferent smuggling groups operating in Malta. However, DFA director gen- eral Andreina Fenech Farru- gia insisted that this was not the case and that the department was "not aware of any evidence that suggests or implies" that the fishing vessels being re- ferred to are being used for smuggling activities. "It is imperative to note that anti-smuggling operations do not fall within the remit of DFA responsibilities," Fenech Farrugia said, adding that the department could only under- take monitoring roles related to controlling abuses from "il- legal, unreported and unregu- lated fisheries". "The Department is not aware of any evidence that suggests or implies that the fishing ves- sels being referred to are being used for smuggling activities," she said. "Fishing vessels are no more prone to illicit activi- ties than the thousands of non- fishing vessels existing in the Maltese waters." She insisted that any evi- dence corroborating the alle- gations needed to be forward- ed to the competent authority for the necessary action. Fenech Farrugia said that despite the fact that the AG's report stated that the vast majority of vessels did not possess a tracking system, there were no ves- sels that were legally bound to have such a system, that did not have one. She said that according EU regulations in force in across the bloc, only vessels above 12m in length were obliged to have a track- ing system. "All such vessels in the Maltese fleet are equipped with the prescribed VMS." Severe staff shortage hampering department's work The Auditor General also noted that a recurrent con- cern raised by the DFA related to a shortage of staff, which the DFA asserted was having negative repercussions on its operations. The audit found that in August 2018, the de- partment had 64 vacant posi- tions and a total staff comple- ment of 119. "If the 64 vacant positions are truly needed and justified, NAO opines that the Depart- ment finds itself in a situa- tion of severe understaffing and consequently it cannot be expected to carry out its man- date to its fullest extent," the NAO said. The audit also found that be- tween January 2017 and Sep- tember 2018, there were 30 employees who had resigned from their post at the Depart- ment. Fenech Farrugia again pushed back against the sug- gestion that no serious at- tempt was being made to re- cruit the necessary workers. She said that like other in- dustries, the department was suffering from a high worker turnover and little interest by prospective employees who are being offered better work- ing conditions in other sec- tors. As a public administration department, Fenech Farru- gia stressed that conditions of services in the public sec- tor were governed by specific rules and that the department did not have the flexibility to offer higher salaries for more challenging positions. She said however, that in line with the AG's recommen- dations, the DFA was looking into the possibility of rede- ploying existing staff to prior- ity areas. Moreover, she said that re- cently-announced plans for a new control hub in Marsa would offer staff a modern working environment which could help in attracting more employees. "In the meantime, DFA shall continue to exercise its con- trol responsibilities in full re- spect of the law and with the required diligence," Fenech Farrugia said. 'No evidence' of smuggling by untracked fishing vessels, Fisheries Department director insists "Fishing vessels are no more prone to illicit activities than the thousands of non- fishing vessels existing in the Maltese waters" Andreina Fenech Farrugia