Three Turkish vessels were recently spotted close to the coast after entering Malta’s fishing waters without permission, the Fisheries Ministry said Thursday.
In a statement, the ministry said “necessary steps” had been taken in response to the incident, but did not provide further details.
Enforcement actions were taken by surveillance vessel the Ocean Sentinel, one of three commissioned by the European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA) that is carrying out inspections in European waters, in particular the Mediterranean, it said.
Maltese inspectors are onboard the surveillance vessel which is currently focused on fishing vessels equipped with surrounding nets – known as purse seine nets – and towing vessels due to the active tuna fishing season, the ministry said.
Other officials are present in the EFCA Control Room in Vigo, Spain, where they track vessels’ locations, record catches “and enforce where necessary”.
Operations are centred on an area of sea 25 nautical miles off Malta’s southern coast, due to the high number of catches made in that area, it added.
“After a number of Maltese fishermen passed on information about illegal activities by foreign vessels a few years ago, this led to the EFCA and the European Commission responding to Malta’s requests and the Ocean Sentinel began to be sent to the Sicilian area in order to strengthen surveillance operations.”
The ministry said the Ocean Sentinel was making a “valuable contribution in this sector”, pointing to past successes identifying “violations” in past tuna fishing seasons.
Fisheries junior minister Alicia Bugeja Said said the government “remains committed to protecting the interests of Maltese fishermen and promoting sustainable fishing for the benefit of all”.