Fish farm applies for move to sensitive area

Fish farm operators have applied to move four tuna pens from Comino to a new site off St Paul’s Bay, despite early studies on the area indicating potential negative environmental impacts. An application by AJD Tuna published by the Planning Authority last week seeks to move the cages to an area around 4.3 kilometres north of Qawra Point and 6.1 kilometres east of Rdum tal-Madonna. AJD, along with three other operators, had been given until the end of May to relocate its pens to a new approved aquaculture zone further offshore, after its permits were revoked by the PA last September due to illegalities and harmful environmental practices. Two of the other operators have since obtained concessions to operate in the only existing approved zone, located off the south coast of Malta, bringing the site up to its full permitted capacity. Efforts by the authorities to identify a similar zone for farms in the north have been going on since 2011 but the necessary studies have not yet been concluded. The site chosen by AJD for its new application is within a large area off St Paul’s Bay identified as a potential site for the north aquaculture zone. But preliminary studies by ADI – an...