Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/634260
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 31 JANUARY 2016 9 News The Parliamentary Secretariat for EU Presidency 2017 and EU Funds, within the Ministry for European Affairs and Implementation of the Electoral Manifesto, notifies that a call for tenders for the Provision of Coffee Break Services for Malta's Presidency of the Council of the EU 2017 has been issued. Copies of the tender documents may be obtained from the Department of Contracts, Notre Dame Ravelin, Floriana FRN 1600, Malta. Tel: (356) 21220212 Fax: (356) 21247681 Email: info@contracts.gov.mt. The documents are also available to download online from www.etenders.gov.mt. CALL FOR TENDERS FOR THE PROVISION OF &2))((%5($.6(59,&(6)250$/7$·6 PRESIDENCY OF THE COUNCIL OF THE EU 2017 PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARIAT FOR THE EU PRESIDENCY 2017 AND EU FUNDS of the Council of the 2017 Maltese Presidency European Union CCF inmates end hunger strike A hunger strike by a number of inmates at the Corradino Correc- tional Facility has ended, home af- fairs minister Carmelo Abela said. The inmates had gone on strike in protest over the poor conditions at Division 2, including showering and laundry facilities. Sources told MaltaToday that prisoners were complaining over lack of hygiene, the need for dis- posable forks and knives and food supplied which they described as "junk food". The same sources said that inmates at Division 5 had also joined the hunger strike. Abela yesterday said that the prison director had initiated talks with the striking prisoners on Fri- day evening and agreed to meet some of their requests. The prisoners ended their strike yesterday morning by having breakfast. "Division 2 is one of the oldest sections of Corradino and has long been in need of refurbish- ing works," Abela said. "However, any works will present logistical problems as the inmates in that division would have to be tempo- rarily relocated to another part of the prison." Mail-order cannabis leads to Englishman's arrest A 24-year-old Englishman was arrested after police caught him trying to import cannabis through the mail. Following a raid on the man's residence, the police also dis- covered ecstasy pills as well as "other objects that indicate that he had intended to traffic the drugs". The man was charged in court. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Most of this fish is sold directly to compa- nies operating the numerous fish farms and is used as fish food. "The catches quoted by the ministry in the report are incred- ible, things simply do not add up," a fisherman told MaltaToday. Another said that if the figures quoted by the report – entitled 'Fishing Effort Adjustment Plan for Lampara Fishery' – were cor- rect "we would all be millionaires by now." The catches sold directly to fish farms are not inspected by the fisheries department and the statistics are based entirely on en- tries on the vessels' logbooks. The director general of the de- partment of fisheries and aquac- ulture, Andreina Fenech Farrugia confirmed that the department "based its information on the amounts declared in the logbook of the vessel." Asked how the department came to a conclusion that the catches were worth over €4.1 mil- lion, Fenech Farrugia said that "since this was a statistical exer- cise it was calculated on the aver- age market price for all the sales reported of the species involved." In an exercise carried out by MaltaToday, the average fish- mongers' price of locally caught mackerel is between €2 to €6, depending on availability and the shop's margin of profit. Despite the higher frequency of inspections at port by department officials, the fish sold directly to fish farms is not inspected. Yet, while Fenech Farrugia claimed that "in the case of the lampara fishery all landings are inspected" she said "the value of the catches is reported through sales notes by those selling the fish." The department currently em- ploys 39 inspectors on a shift basis. In 2014 and 2015, 201 and 259 inspections were carried out respectively on the 14 vessels reg- istered for lampara fishing. Fishermen and industry sources told MaltaToday that though the official registry includes 14 ves- sels, only six or seven are active lampara fishing vessels. Industry sources said that a haul of 928 metric tonnes in one year is unheard of. The catch trans- lates into 61,000 boxes of 15kg each or some 4,300 boxes of fish per registered lampara vessel. The statistics are all the more surprising when compared to the figures in 2010, when a larger fleet caught 120 tonnes of fish. The lampara season tradition- ally lasts five months, between April and August, and out of the 14 registered vessels only three have a gross tonnage capacity ex- ceeding 50 tonnes. Three vessels have a gross tonnage below 10. In contrast, 17 large vessels reg- istered as trawlers collectively caught 73.65 tonnes of fish, with a market value of €1.8 million. Moreover, lampara fishery is a seasonal activity and most of the lampara vessels are also engaged in other types of fishing activities such as swordfish, tuna and lam- puki (dorado). Asked to provide the amount and value of catches for the indi- vidual vessels on the registry, the department said that due to data protection issues figures per ves- sel cannot be provided. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Most of this fish is sold directly to compa- nies operating the numerous fish farms and is used as fish food. "The catches quoted by the ministry in the report are incred- ible, things simply do not add up," a fisherman told MaltaToday. Another said that if the figures quoted by the report – entitled The director general of the de- partment of fisheries and aquac- ulture, Andreina Fenech Farrugia confirmed that the department "based its information on the amounts declared in the logbook of the vessel." Asked how the department came to a conclusion that the catches were worth over €4.1 mil- depending on availability and the shop's margin of profit. Despite the higher frequency of inspections at port by department officials, the fish sold directly to fish farms is not inspected. Yet, while Fenech Farrugia claimed that "in the case of the lampara fishery all landings are inspected" she said "the value of Fishermen and industry sources told MaltaToday that though the official registry includes 14 ves- sels, only six or seven are active lampara fishing vessels. Industry sources said that a haul of 928 metric tonnes in one year is unheard of. The catch trans- lates into 61,000 boxes of 15kg each or some 4,300 boxes of fish 'Catches quoted by the ministry do not add up'