Fishermen would this year be earning a record e9.50 (Lm4.07) per kilo for their tuna catches, fisheries parliamentary secretary Francis Agius said yesterday at the signing of the contract by the two cooperatives and the purchase contractor.

Fishermen were getting ever better prices for their tuna catches, he added. The price in 2006 was e6.05 per kilo, in 2007 it was e7.05 and now it would be e9.50, meaning a 50 per cent price increase over the price for 2006.

Dr Agius said the quota this year would be 343.54 tonnes. At the ICCAT meetings in Croatia and Japan, Malta had negotiated a favourable package. The quota last year was 355.59 tonnes and it had been agreed this would be reduced by a quarter over the coming three years for all ICCAT members. Malta’s quota for this year would be 343.54 tonnes, plus 33 tonnes from last year’s, for a total of 376 tonnes.

The veterinary services and the fisheries section had not issued any new fishing licence this year, in line with ICCAT recommendations and the recovery plan for tuna, aiming to help the effort for a drop in tuna catches.