Historic industries in Maltese waters

Abstract

Malta can be considered as the quintessential maritime state, not just because of its island status but also due to its extensive marine resources. Its territorial waters are almost 14 times the islands' land area and its strategic location in the Mediterranean make it a mandatory port of call for many. An aspect of Malta's maritime ethos that is often overlooked is the existence of a number of small-scale industries revolving around the exploitation of a few coveted marine species, namely the harvesting of bathing sponges, precious red coral and marine snails. While the harvesting of bathing sponges was traditionally associated with Greek and Turkish waters, especially with the islands of Symi and Kalymnos, banks of such sponges were subsequently discovered off the Tunisian coast and Lampedusa, and the Maltese authorities occasionally received requests from Greek companies for licences to ply Maltese waters for this purpose.