The Rural Affairs and Environment Ministry said that Noel Farrugia, Labour Party spokesperson for agriculture and fisheries was misinformed about the fishing sector. It was referring to a statement by Mr Farrugia on the use of drift nets in the fishing industry.

The ministry said Mr Farrugia tried to give the impression that the government was doing nothing to defend the interests of Maltese fishermen. But the drift nets issue was known by everyone and that the European commission did not need to be reminded of it.

With the Mediterranean having considerable zones which are international waters it is difficult to do more than what is already being done. Ships and boats which abuse the rules have neither a name nor a registration number and they could not be reported to their countries to take legal action.

The ministry said that even though Mr Farrugia was minister of agriculture and fisheries for 22 months, he still had no knowledge of how the Food and Agriculture Organisation operated. The FAO did not have executive powers so it could not resolve the situation.

The FAO was doing its utmost to stop drift net fishing, but it had to be remembered that drift nets that were not more than 2.5km long were allowed. Mr Farrugia did not seem to know this.