Sea sludge appears in Mellieħa, might not be coming from fish farms
Beachgoers in Mellieha have had to deal with some unpleasant sights in the recent days as sea slime washed up on the shores of one of Malta’s most popular beaches.
This newsroom is informed, however, that the slime might have nothing to do with the fish farming industry, unlike what had caused the fish slime earlier this year in localities like Saint Paul’s Bay.
A person who sent us a photo of the slime that appeared in Ghadira a couple of days ago thought that this was slime coming from the tuna pens. There are two plausible explanations as to why the slime appeared.
A reader sent us a picture of sea sludge that appeared from the beach at Ghadira a few days ago and suggested that the cause was the nearby ‘tuna’ farm.
But an expert who spoke with The Malta Independent explained that the fish pens which can be seen from Ahrax or Ghadira, are not farming tuna, but sea bream (awrat).
When contacted by this newspaper, one of the Ghadira sea bream farm operators said the feed used is dry and does not produce any slime. In fact, while in the past there have been multiple appearances of sea slime in Qawra and Sliema, there were never any reports of slime in Ghadira.
The expert who spoke to this newsroom said the slime might have come from the tuna pens, which are further out at sea. Tuna pens were recently moved further out, on instructions by the Planning Authority. The pens were moved before the deadline expired earlier this week. The expert said that the slime might have been caused during the towing process, when tuna pens were being moved out. There is a possibility that the slime appeared when the pens were temporarily stationed close to Ghadira.
But a member of the tuna farming lobby pointed out that the tuna pens are currently located some 7 km out of Qawra, or St Paul’s Islands. The possibility that the slime was carried over such a distance after a change in the wind is hard to confirm.
This newsroom is informed that an Environment and Resources Authority meeting held on Thursday discussed the permits that will be given for fish farm owners in an offshore location. A final decision is yet to be taken. The Planning Authority expressed its satisfaction at seeing fish farm owners abiding by the agreement and moving the cages on time.
Fish farm owners and the Planning Authority had their fair share of quarrels lately as multiple reports of fish slime enraged the public. Sliema and St Paul’s Bay were among the most affected areas. A report commissioned by the Environment Ministry conduced in summer 2016, had found that the now infamous sea sludge was more often than not coming from fish farms. It also found that four out of six fish farms in Malta, all of which operate tuna pens, had some form of infringement.
It was explained that frozen fish was being let to defrost inside the cages, releasing fish oil which turns into foam when it reaches the coast.
The government raked in some €1.1 million in environmental tax from the sector in 2015. That sum is expected to rise to €2 million this year, which shows the sector’s expansion.