Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1482386
15 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 23 OCTOBER 2022 NEWS harvesting season – running from September to January – passes. "We hope we can at- tract fish waste exports to Mal- ta," Gouder says of the plant, which charges tuna ranchers a gate fee to dispose of their tuna waste. The costs of achieving full cir- cular activity are also evident in the plant's air processing sys- tem and its waste-water treat- ment area. Outside the plant, the faint whiff of this 'tuna al- jotta' is evident, but inside it is relatively odourless for what is essentially a giant pot of broth. The air quality inside is en- sured because individual air- flow systems capture the steam generated by all the engines. This 'heavily polluted air' from the tuna cooking process, gets sucked into an overhead air treatment system, which filters the air before it emerges into the environment. Even the waste-water system – a micro-version of similar treatment plants I visited in Gozo – is treating the effluent before its draining into the na- tional sewage system. These relatively odourless treatment systems complement the in- herent 'circularity' of the ARL plant. ARL, which is owned by ranching giants AJD Tuna, Fish And Fish and MFF Limit- ed, is the showcase of Malta's tuna lobby, the Maltese Feder- ation of Aquaculture Produc- ers. Now it hopes it can use its sprawling 3,000sq.m land to a business incubation centre fo- cusing on the aquaculture and marine industry, for scientific researchers. Gouder says that upgrades to the 'polishing' of the final product means that the fish- meal and oils could be further used for human consumption or cosmetics. "In other words, more good ideas are welcome and can be tested. The industry may not know what the future holds, but it is ready to em- brace change and adapt as the world of commerce changes." As a major exporter, aqua- culture's contribution to the Maltese economy remains sig- nificant. In 2021 an increase in tuna quotas led to an almost 15% increase of bluefin tuna, generating €25 million more in Maltese domestic output, above the €179 million regis- tered in 2020. Today Malta is one of the largest producers of bluefin tuna in the Mediterra- nean and Atlantic, and the top producer in the European Un- ion. One of its main markets is Japan. "Ask a Japanese person what their view of Maltese tuna is and they will tell you it is the best, the very hallmark of good quality," Gouder says. The industrial turn Initially tuna was fished using the tunnara artisanal trap sys- tem, and after the 1960s using hook-and-line methods such as long-line gear. But it was dur- ing the 1990s that the interna- tional demand for toro meat – tuna belly, prized in Japan for sashimi and sushi – led to an increase in Maltese exports to the international market. Industrialised methods al- lowed fishing companies like Ricardo Fuentes to capture enormous numbers of tuna us- ing purse seiners, to provide enough live bluefin tuna to stock ranches with hundreds of tonnes of tuna from just one trip. While industrial giants used technology to detect areas where the fish are, traditional fishers catch one fish at a time and are led to their prey by sea- gulls. Overfishing and exploita- tion soon gave way to 'tuna wars', as competition for the species became intense. It was this rapid growth that brought enormous stress on tuna re- sources from overfishing. Calls for quotas, imposed by the In- ternational Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), eventually led to the introduction of the total allowable catch (TAC). TACs brought a drastic overhaul of fishermen's lives. When gov- ernments decided to reduce tuna fleet capacities by 25%, smaller fisherman cashed out their quotas to the big players. Charlon Gouder, who defends the industry's record in abiding by strict regulations, says today Malta's tuna federation holds the highest of standards and sees sustainability as part of its make-up. "Employees are trained to collect slime, keep all marine installations clean and free of rubbish and flotsam, source baitfish of the highest quali- ty, and ensure that whenever boats are at a loading bay, with bait fish on board, they are equipped with booms to ensure the capture of any slime that is lost. "The industry is subject to checks by independent inspec- tors which the Federation wel- comes because it wants its solid record to be recognised. "We're rightly proud of what we have achieved, especial- ly the new facility at Ħal Far – we're determined to make waves in the future too." Day-fresh tuna heads and dorsal fins (top left) taken out of a freezer, and ready to be ground down (left). Top: the disc-dryer cooks the tuna grind gently as it moves from one end of the machine to the other The finished product: the oils are separated before the cooking process for the tuna, seen here as bottarga-like granules. The fishmeal is currently used for pet foods and nutra-ceuticals