Malta is an archipelago that lies in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. Our history has been shaped by that fact and over the millennia, various peoples have settled here and traded through the sea routes that once made Malta so geo-strategically important.

And equally, the sea has always been an important resource to us in terms of food. We are perhaps, one of the last remaining countries in Europe that has a traditional fleet that uses largely traditional methods to catch fish.

But things have been changing. Last year, we heard how fishermen were literally cordoning off parts of bays and inlets by creating a huge tap net that would catch any fish and preventing them from leaving for open waters. The sad irony is that so many fish were trapped, that they could not be harvested and sold on the market.

We have also seen people comb beaches and carry off huge amounts of molluscs, shrimp, crabs and more. But it keeps on getting worse. Last year, this newspaper ran a series of stories whereby we pinpointed instances of divers using air cylinders to go spear fishing. This is, of course, illegal. But more often than not, the police do not even have the resources to carry out patrols, let alone enforce the law. As a result, a blind eye is turned to people diving and making off with a fish for dinner accompanied by a huge haul of sea urchins.

Just when you thought things could not get any worse, it does. 99% of divers abhor such actions, even if people are actually fishing for something to eat on their plate. But, as ever, there is the odd 1% that ruins everything for everyone else. Diving is all about appreciating undersea life and enjoying the different world of marine animals that live below the surface.

However, it transpires that three rare conefish were shot by spear fishermen in Cirkewwa this week. The worst thing about it is that the fish are inedible and were just left to die on the sea bottom. They were killed for sport, nothing more and nothing less. Not on that, but they were killed by poachers with an unfair advantage which were using aqua lungs. Malta is the most popular diving destination in the Mediterranean and it contributes to our tourism product, and in turn our Gross Domestic Product. Malta is the only diving destination which has not been dubbed the “dead Med”, but if we carry on like this, we are most definitely heading for a situation where a lot of our sea life will disappear and sooner rather than later.

The authorities need to beef up the police ALE unit and there needs to be more contact with local diving schools and clubs to tap them for information about possible illegalities that some divers commit.