Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/637230
25 Reference is being made to a series of articles which appeared in the past weeks on the Fisher- ies sector, including an interview with Martin Caruana, published on Sunday, 3 January 2016 'Fish- ing in troubled waters', and the article 'inf lated fish landings spark smuggling front fears', penned by Jurgen Balzan on 25 January, 2016. The subject of fisheries needs to be looked at from a much wid- er angle, taking into account the context of the global phenom- enon of overfishing, and this is particularly felt in the Mediter- ranean where production has been in decline for a number of years. Some have even gone so far as dubbing it the "dead Med", so it is not surprising that fishermen may be finding fewer fish to catch. In fact all manage- ment measures at local, EU and international level are aimed at achieving a sustainable level of exploitation of those fish stocks on which communities are de- pendent upon without affecting their ability to reproduce. The problems being anticipat- ed by Maltese fishermen have al- ready been a reality for many in other countries where entire fish stocks have collapsed, situations which have required drastic measures in order to re-establish sustainable exploitation. With this background in mind one appreciates why much atten- tion is given to the control and enforcement of often complex regulations. In this regard one cannot reduce a complex legisla- tive instrument, such as the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) to quoting a part of the 19th re- cital but should, as a minimum, refer to its five objectives, which have much deeper ramifica- tions. For further reading one may visit the following website: http://ec.europa.eu/fisheries/cfp/ index_en.htm With regard to the vessels fishing within the waters under Malta's jurisdiction, a fish- ing effort regime measured by the capacity of vessels operat- ing within the area is in force with specific access rules. The general rule is for only fishing vessels under 12m to be allowed to fish and these are recognised internationally as being the small scale nature. However, for certain fisher- ies like longlines, lampuki and trawling, vessels over 12m may be authorised whilst respecting the fishing effort regime. From information given by fishermen themselves, trawling inside the 25nm zone had been ongoing for years before EU accession. In late 2013 management plans for the trawlers, lampara and lam- puki fisheries were introduced as required by the Mediterranean Regulation (Council Regulation (EC) 1967/2006). Overall the trawling f leet operating within the 25nm zone has to date had its capacity reduced by about 30% over that utilised in 2011. With reference to enforcement the Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture categorically denies that this is lax. It also transpires that Mr Caruana has not lodged any of the reports mentioned in the article with the department. The specific incident referred to in the article concerns a Togo (not Tobago) f lagged vessel which is Maltese owned and which was being investigated by the department, with the assistance of the Armed Forces of Malta and after the relevant information was received, the department ascertained that this was a supply vessel with no deal- ings in the fish trade. Moreover a vessel cannot be presumed to be involved in Illegal, Unreported and Unregu- lated (IUU) fishing because it is anchored, but it has to infringe one of several criteria laid down by the IUU Regulation (Council Regulation (EC) 1005/2008). When the Department does find proof of IUU fishing it takes matters very seriously as it has done on a number of occasions. The case of the Italian trawler which was fishing without lights near the Maltese coasts actually refers to a vessel with the name of "LEONE" which was caught fishing off the coast of Gozo by the Armed Forces of Malta. The vessel was immediately routed to port where the fish onboard was seized by the Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture and the vessel held in port. The master of the vessel was arraigned and found guilty on admission with a fine of €20,000 being handed down by the Court together with the confiscation of the fishery products which had been seized. With reference to recreational fishing, the Department of Fish- eries and Aquaculture has also taken the necessary steps where illegal fishing was reported, with a number of court cases having been instituted. Moreover the alleged use of nets by recreation- al fishing boats mentioned in the article is an illegal practice and should be reported to the Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture, the Police or the Armed Forces of Malta. Regarding the lampara fishery, monitoring and controls are in place. For instance one should note that through a manage- ment plan, all vessels have been installed with a vessel monitor- ing system which allows the monitoring of the 24-hour movement of these vessels by the Fisheries Monitoring Centre of the Department. Any vessel that intends to leave or enter port must hail in or out, which means that the department is alerted of a vessel's movements inside and outside the port. Once a lampara vessel enters back into port after a fishing trip the department carries out an inspection which includes a check of the entries in the catch logbook and mesh size of the net. Any landings of the catch on board are recorded and cross checked with the data that is contained in the logbook. In 2014, the lampara fishing f leet made 201 landings which were all inspected. Any information of suspicious activity, even if not related to fisheries, is passed on to the relevant authorities for further action. Dr Andreina Fenech Farrugia, Director General, Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture maltatoday, SUNDAY, 7 FEBRUARY 2016 Letters court of law. Meanwhile: not to stress too fine a point on this… but my great-grand- mother managed to bring a total of 16 children into the world (some of whom died in infancy). That's an awful lot of experience in the one field that seems to matter the most when appointing magistrates, don't you think? Does this mean my great- grandmother was eight times more qualified than Dr Zammit Young to serve as a magistrate? Hmmm… And why stop at my great grand- mother? Having 'children' is hardly unique to the human species, you know. Every animal and plant on the planet that also employs sexual reproduction as a means of propa- gation (i.e., around 90% of animals, and slightly less for plants) can make the same claim. Cats, mice, dogs, horses, monkeys, cockroach- es, mosquitoes… they can replicate their genes, too. So why the heck do humans attach so much impor- tance to what is ultimately one of the seven vital functions common to all living things? Might as well include all the oth- ers while we're at it: "Dr Zammit Young, who occasionally defecates and urinates just like everyone else, was appointed to the magisterial bench…" I mean, come on… OK, at this point you might think I'm latching onto an insignificant detail purely for effect; that – to cut to the chase – I am now being something of a pillock. Naturally, I beg to differ. Not so much about the pillock bit – guilty as charged, etc. – but I do think it's important, and here is why. Consider the next sentence in that same article: "Dr Farrugia Frendo, 33, daughter of Speaker Anglu Far- rugia, practises as a lawyer in court. She was last year appointed court attorney under the guidance of Madam Justice Abigail Lofaro…" OK, we've already covered the family connection with Labour. BUT… there is suddenly no men- tion of any children at all. Is this because she doesn't actually have any? I don't know, and quite frankly it's none of my business. But that's precisely the problem. The press has made it our business. If you're going to introduce two wom- en in the same article, and identify one by the number of children she has mothered, and not the other… well, by omission you have auto- matically drawn attention to a very private issue which has NO PLACE WAHATSOEVER in a report about two new magistrates. I mean, it's the sort of thing that shouldn't really have to be spelt out. This is after all the 21st century we're supposed to be living in. How would people react if Joe Mifsud and Wenzu Mintoff were presented as 'father(s) of two, three (or how- ever many)' when appointed magis- trates last year? It would be ludicrous, and we all know it. Yet we all seem ready to ac- cept the ludicrous (not to mention the downright sexist and anachro- nistic) when it is applied to women in the same roles. There is a reason for this, too. It is OK to present a woman as a mother first (and magistrate, or any other career, second)… because we still live in a society that evidently still consid- ers the primary role of women to be baby-producing machines for the exclusive benefit of men. But to be fair… in this particular case, it's probably just as well. There do not seem to be any other creden- tials or qualifications worth report- ing. SITUATION VACANT 1. Communication Manager - Full-time BirdLife Malta is seeking a full time Communication Manager to run the communications department. Duties include: Participate in the design & implementation of the organisation's strategy Supporting the various teams' communication needs Undertaking the running and participation of campaigns Manage the daily media tools such as social media Experience and qualifications required: At least 3 years experience in a similar job Graduate from a communication related degree Must be conversant in both Maltese and English Must have a high level of writing skills in both Maltese and English A meticulous and thorough nature, and able to work flexible hours 2. Office Administrator/PA - Full-time BirdLife Malta is seeking a full time office administrator/pa to undertake the day to day office duties and membership administration. Duties include: Answering the telephone and dealing with queries from the public Supporting the CEO with the administrative needs of the organisation Undertaking all membership administrative tasks Providing administrative assistance to key staff Manage volunteers under the European Voluntary Service Experience and qualifications required: At least 2 years experience in an administration job Computer Literate and meticulous by nature Highly developed organisational skills Maturity to handle a range of situations A meticulous and thorough nature Loyalty and a high level of confidentiality Those interested are asked to apply by sending a detailed CV by not later than Sunday 7th February 2016 by email on mark.sultana@birdlifemalta.org Lampara fishing fleet's landings all inspected