ADPD - The Green Party, has struck out at the Environment and Resources Authority over its handling of fish farms, and responses to questions it gave.

"Last summer, residents of St Paul's Bay and the surrounding areas complained about the significant increase in sea pollution, noting copious amounts of detritus and slime in connection with the nearby tuna pens.  The problem was particularly serious mid-August, when the sea in the area was unfit for bathing due to the pollution," ADPD said.

It said that this is a clear example of a "lack of management and a lack of transparency from the authorities that are duty-bound to protect Malta's maritime environment."

ADPD-The Green Party Chairperson, Sandra Gauci, who is also a local councillor in St Paul's Bay, condemned "the lack of transparency of the Environment & Resources Authority (ERA)" in connection with the monitoring of the waste from the tuna pens in St Paul's Bay.

Gauci's comments came after she asked for copies of reports of the monitoring expected on these fish farms. "However, ERA replied with a very generic list of when and how this monitoring occurs, without producing any further detail or concrete reports."

ADPD attached the response it had received from the ERA. ERA sent a document that
"lists and describes the inspections that were carried out in August 2025 by officers from ERA's Compliance & Enforcement Unit in relation to fish-farms and related operations. Said inspections include routine/scheduled inspections on quays, land bases, and out at sea, as well as inspections related to investigations and follow-up of reports/complaints received. It is to be noted that in August 2025, the Compliance & Enforcement Unit conducted marine inspections out at sea routinely every day when this was possible due to weather, marine and vessel conditions.  Time and duration vary from day to day, in view that the ERA conducts inspections at different times to ensure that it has a good oversight of the operations onsite and not just during specific time-windows. All inspecting officers are from the ERA's Compliance & Enforcement Unit."

The ERA told the ADPD that during these routine inspections, the conditions in the respective fish-farm permits are checked to ensure that the operators are following said conditions as per a checklist prepared for each farm. "Most of the inspections confirm that the operations out at sea during the visits are following the conditions imposed in the environmental permits, however, there are cases where non compliances are noted. In such cases the ERA takes action against the operator by instructing the operator onsite to remedy the situation and also depending on the nature of the non-compliance, by issuing administrative fines," the ERA told ADPD.

It said that to issue administrative fines, the ERA must have proof of the actual perpetrator of the infringements. "Hence, whilst this could be clear if a fish farm is found not to be complying with permit conditions, it is normally not possible to pin-point which fish-farm cages were responsible when episodes of slime are encountered farther from the fish-farms. The CEU however does resort even to aerial imagery when this could help positively identify the source of slime plumes." It said that when slime is observed outside the cages, the Authority instructs the Aquaculture Federation to clean it up.  The Federation has organized itself in this regard, and retains a number of vessels ready
appositely to carry out such slime-removal operations, it added.

The documentation the ERA attached was a list containing the date and time an inspection was carried out, together with the number of inspecting officers, location and whether it was a routine inspection or not. Another document provided was about fines issued.

But the ADPD was not satisfied with the information provided by the ERA, and said that the monitoring reports, "if they have ever been compiled, will remain unavailable to the public.  This is very amateurish for an entity that is supposed to protect the environment. This authority is more concerned with covering up the truth about environmental crime," said Gauci.

She added that sending generic emails without any specific information regarding the monitoring is "an insult to us taxpayers who demand accountability and transparency."

Gauci appealed for the public to be given immediate access to studies about the quality of the sea water, "which were supposedly carried out over last summer, and which were promised by Charlon Gouder, a representative of the sector.  I hope that these studies give us a clearer picture of things, and not a waste of the public's time," Gauci added.

"If this is how ERA works with those who pollute our seas, then it is time for this entity to shut down its operations and save taxpayers the expense of paying those who are supposedly entrusted with watching out, but in reality are really covering up this abuse," concluded Gauci.