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maltatoday, SUNDAY, 25 JUNE 2017 Opinion 26 Fishing companies and Greenpeace are undoubtedly at loggerheads over the exploitation of tuna stocks in the Medi- terranean, but the tuna farmers are now alleging that the international organisation has failed to assist African migrants in the Mediterranean sea. The allegations from members of fishing trawlers which are being shadowed by the Rainbow Warrior, come right in the midst of Greenpeace's current campaign to save the Mediterranean's bluefin tuna stock from further depletion by large-scale tuna fishing. But the organisation has stated it has "at no time" directly encountered any boat carrying migrants in the Mediterranean in recent weeks. Greenpeace spokesperson Isabel Leal however said that on two occasions in the last five weeks, the Rainbow Warrior, which is shadowing the tuna farmers, had received locations of boats carrying migrants. On 13 June, it received information from an observer flying over the area at 6pm of a boat spotted earlier on at 10am. Green- peace said it had been informed that the informed the migrants' boat was heading north and its engine was working properly. "We estimated that the ship could be at least another 30-40 miles north of the initial position, but this is obviously very difficult to determine. The captain of the Rainbow Warrior got in touch with the Malta Rescue Centre and made available all the information we had." Leal said that at no time were Green- peace asked for help in locating or rescuing this boat. "If we had, we would have im- mediately followed the instructions from the Maltese Rescue Centre." The second occasion was on 20 June, when the Rainbow Warrior received information at 2.30pm of a boat carrying migrants that had sunk 75 miles south of Malta. "According to our source, three of the 26 migrants on board were attached to the tuna cages towed by the bottom trawler Budafel, and one of them had managed to get on board. 22 were missing. "We called the Maltese Rescue Centre and they were aware of the situation and that a Maltese navy vessel was in the area. The Rainbow Warrior was at that time 90 miles from that position, over 10 hours sailing. At no time were we asked to take part in a rescue operation." Greenpeace is currently on a tour of the Mediterranean to stop the plundering of bluefin tuna, claiming that illegal driftnets continue to be used despite their prohibi- tion and the rampant overdevelopment of the Mediterranean coastline is destroying coastal ecosytems. Shadowed trawlers say Greenpeace avoiding migrants News – 27 June 2007 Send your letters to: The Editor, MaltaToday, MediaToday Ltd. Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann SGN 9016 | Fax: (356) 21 385075 E-mail: newsroom@mediatoday.com.mt. Letters to the Editor should be concise. No pen names are accepted. Delusionally utopian or sound principles? Investors need to join forces to defend interests The current political and moral fibre ther- mometer registers a feverish condition: From the day Malta voted in favour of divorce, a new generation with bright, progressive ideas took over. Civil unions have allowed us to sweep away personal prejudice. These are only two of the wrong impres- sions that the man in the street perceives as an improvement in our standard of liv- ing and moral standing. This is partly due to the church's inf luence, which is waning and also has long been receding fast, in spite of Pope Benedict's advice to beware of the many threats to the sacredness of human life and to the dignity of marriage and the family. Make no mistake. Even Pope Francis had his say on this topic. In his last document, "The joy of love", it has been emphasized for the umpteenth time that the church's opposition to same-sex marriage and divorce still stands. This reminds me of an episode from the Acts of the Apostles when they were advised not to teach any further in Jesus' name, and Peter said "we ought to obey God, rather than man" (5: 28-29). The conception of a feel-good factor is deceptive if it does not conform with the word of God and the Church's teachings. Were our MPs on the right path when passing certain Bills in parliament or had they become the victims of a network of delusional utopias? As in the UK, what Marx failed to do, Marks and Spencer did. Never before in local history was the Gospel warning about God and Mammon completely ig- nored as today – for the soul that has lost its god must worship Mammon (Fulton Sheen). In present day Malta, mammon is avail- able under the guise of riches, power and glory. It seems that when well-formed consciences and Catholic culture are not the most prominent forces in your soul, this corporate greed takes hold of your noble objectives. It is imperative that no one should be complacent about the future moral state of our dear island country because if we abandon our Catholic principles any further, the structure of our sane morality will in time crumble. John Azzopardi Zabbar There is certainly a big need for the re- tail investor to join forces to defend his interests. The investment world is full of risks and if there is no one to guide the investor, the risk is even much greater. Investment advice to the man in the street is very lacking in Malta and, as this country has now become an important financial centre, the Maltese are continually being enticed by many fi- nancial providers to buy their products. This will certainly result in many retail investors falling for this enticement and, due to the lack of guidance, it is very probable that they will invest haphaz- ardly and will later regret their decision when they realise that the investment they bought was not adequate for their circumstances. Unfortunately, most Maltese investors have not yet realised that it is necessary that they join an association like MASS, in fact there is presently fewer than 1% of Maltese investors who have joined the Malta Association of Small Investors. At this moment, MASS is going through an intensive exercise to encour- age the Maltese investor to join the association. Every month it organises a conference during which a professional speaker talks about a subject which is of interest to investors. Those who attend are invited to become members and all they pay as membership is five euros yearly. This covers the monthly mail- ing of the association's newsletter, that they are advised whenever MASS has an event which they can attend free of charge as well as various notices giving them information which concerns inves- tors. MASS is continually in contact with all companies quoted on the Malta Stock Exchange. It also keeps contact with most companies which offer investment advice. This ensures that, as much as possible, the local investor would be warned about any risk which arises. This year the association will be mak- ing a survey which will give it better information about the reaction of the investment consumer to the movements in investment prices and other changes. This will ensure that the association will be in a better position to help the investor. I encourage the investor to become a member of this association so as to ensure that someone is taking care of their interests. For more information, one should access the website: w w w. mass.org.mt or send an email to: info@ mass.org.mt. Saviour Buttigieg Treasurer Malta Association of Small Shareholders The Greenpeace vessel Rainbow Warrior was the world's first purpose-built environmental campaigning ship