The 10,000 amberjack (accjoli) fries swimming unconcernedly in tanks at the Malta Centre for Fisheries Sciences (MCFS) at Fort San Lucjan in Marsaxlokk or in a pen at Marsaxlokk Bay, are ignorant of the fact that they represent a breakthrough in aquaculture research.

Yet, Rural Affairs and Environment Minister George Pullicino and Parliamentary Secretary Frans Agius certainly looked fully aware of what the centre has achieved as yesterday they showed the media around tanks containing the 20-gramme fish. According to the minister, the centre will not sit on its laurels as it is gearing up for the Herculean task of breeding tuna, a feat achieved only in Japan.

The rearing of amberjacks is the MCFS’s latest attempt at diversifying the aquaculture industry that has until now focused on breeding sea bream (awrat) and sea bass (spnott).

Mr Pullicino explained that Tunis, Libya, Israel, Cyprus, Italy and Spain have tried hatching amberjacks, but they had had no success. “That is why this result is not just satisfactory but rather phenomenal,” he said elatedly.

Dr Robert Vassallo Agius, who is overseeing the project, explained how the research was looking at the various aspects of breeding, such as nutrition, reproduction and handling of eggs.

The 10,000 fries hatched around 80 days ago, after just 15 amberjacks laid a huge number of eggs (700,000 to one million) that were fertilised and gathered by researchers. This process is highly delicate and complicated and seems to be under a blanket of industrial mystery as the minister and his entourage kept their cards close to their chests.

Half of the offspring are being reared at sea in a pen close to their parents at Marsaxlokk Bay, while their other 5,000 siblings are being reared in a number of tanks at the MCFS in a closely controlled environment. Each tank has a distinctive attribute, said Joanne Attard, a fourth year BSc student at the University of Malta, who is preparing a thesis on the subject. She is quite passionate about aquaculture, “as everyone else in here”, as she pointed out. Ms Attard said all those involved in this research, from the director downwards, spend a lot of time to monitor the fish’s growth even during weekends.

She explained how some tanks hold 150 fish while others hold 300, whereas other fish are fed at different intervals in order to test their growth in different conditions.

The project is conducted in partnership between the government and the privately owned Malta Fishfarming Ltd and has entered its second year. The agreement covers five years with an option for a further five.

“We should celebrate this event,” said Dr Agius, “as we are reaping the fruits of years of research in the field.” He said the government’s firm belief in research was reaping fruit as the Maltese were showing that they were at the forefront of the industry.

Dr Agius pointed out that the more fish farming was successful, the less stress would be put on existing fish stocks that risked to be depleted because of the rise in demand for fish.

This point was taken up by Minister Pullicino on a boat that showed journalists around pens, as workers fed the infant amberjacks dried food and the larger ones bits of fish. These amberjacks weigh up to 40 kilogrammes and are held in groups of 25 in three pens.

Malta’s participation in Selfdott, an EU-funded project geared towards hatching tuna, said the minister, was another step forward towards the protection of the species. Other participants include Italy, France, Spain, Greece, Germany, Cyprus and Israel.

Malta, said the minister, would receive EUR250,000 over three years to reach four objectives; building up of parenting stock, develop nutrition procedures for the stock, gather a sample of tuna eggs to be analysed and test transportation of such eggs to find the ideal method that did not damage them.

Minister Pullicino added that until now tuna fish farming involved catching the fish from the wild, fattening it up and exporting it, mostly to Japan, South Korea and the US. This was depleting fish stocks, which already were running somewhat low. The hatching of tuna would surely help in mitigating the depletion of stocks.

The minister also spoke about the environmental implications of tuna penning. He explained that the Malta Environment and Planning Authority had obliged tuna penning firms to install an extra net in their pens that would capture any feed not eaten by the captive tuna. This would help protect the seabed and the quality of water. The companies would also be obliged to move their pens further out at sea. Through these measures, he said, operators would be rearing their fish in cleaner seas that would result in higher quality tuna and ultimately a better price on the international market.

Dr Vassallo Agius pointed out that like any other farmed organisms, farmed fish have higher fat content; however, he explained that fish fat was high in Omega-3 which was helpful in treating various chronic conditions.