The Aquaculture research Section at Fort San Lucjan participates actively in research projects to breed marine fish species that have a high potential for aquaculture, namely the amberjack (accjol) and bluefin tuna (tonn). At present, Mediterranean farming of the amberjack and the bluefin tuna are capture-based; with the fish being caught from the wild and reared in cages or pens.

The Amberjack Project is a national project and started in 2006. It involves the collaboration between the government pilot research hatchery at Fort San Lucjan and a local private fish farm, Malta Fishfarming Ltd. The project is in the fourth year of a five-year joint venture, aimed towards the development of breeding techniques and the culture of this species. In these last four years, Malta has already developed techniques whereby fertilised eggs are collected, hatched and reared into juveniles that are then grown into adults in cages. The production of fertilised eggs has increased from 300,000 in 2006 to approximately 10 million eggs this year. With the present capacity of the pilot hatchery at Fort San Lucjan we can only produce a maximum of 10,000 juveniles through the current survival rates. With advanced broodstock management and plans to produce more eggs in the coming years, it is essential that Malta moves forward and constructs a larger hatchery that will be able to accommodate and utilise eggs produced, thus producing a larger number of juveniles.

Apart from egg production, Malta is also seeking more research and knowledge to improve the survival of amberjack juveniles from the hatchery. Studies on larval development, feed trials for juveniles and growth in cages are being carried out.

In the case of the bluefin tuna, Malta is a partner in a 7th Framework EU project known as SELF-DOTT (SELF sustaining aquaculture – Domestication of Thunnus thynnus) that involves another seven countries, Spain, Israel, France, Germany, Greece, Italy and Norway.

Over the three years of this project, the different institutes and companies from these countries will contribute towards a better understanding of the biology of bluefin tuna within realistic and achievable objectives. The scientific consortium has already successfully produced fertilised eggs and viable larvae in 2009, and aims to produce a number of fingerlings for further rearing. The whole project is organised into three main work packages, namely reproduction, larval rearing and nutrition.

This three-year project is in its second year and over 150 million good fertilised eggs have been collected from the broodstocks of Spain and Italy, showing that the techniques for broodstock management and egg collection have been successful. This is a very big step ahead of the success in the previous fifth Framework project (REPRO-DOTT – Reproduction of bluefin tuna), where viable eggs were obtained and artificially inseminated, thus proving that bluefin tuna can mature and produce viable eggs and sperm in captivity.

Unfortunately no eggs were collected from the Malta broodstock in 2009 even though the same techniques as those used in Italy and Spain were used. There are strong indications that the Maltese broodstock spawned however the eggs were lost due to strong currents in the area. A different site with much less currents is sought after for more experiments in 2010.

Apart from the spawning cage, Malta is also responsible for a broodstock nutrition experiment, sampling bluefin tuna from the wild, egg distribution to other countries and larval rearing.

Robert Vassallo Agius is resource manager Aquaculture Fort San Lucjan ministry for resources and rural affairs