Some features of the Maltese fishing industry with special reference to the dolphin fish and sword fish

Abstract

The commercial fishing industry in Malta represents only a small sector of the economy. Although the surface area of the territorial waters claimed by the Maltese islands is far more extensive in comparison to the land, the sea is not sufficiently exploited by the fishermen. It is a well known fact that the Maltese islands are not at all rich in natural resources. Thus the presumption would be that the fishing industry would constitute a large sector of the economy of Malta; unfortunately this industry is a very small industry, so much so that it is important to note that estimates of the catch by various Mediterranean countries in the "Indicative World Plan", place Malta next to the lowest position. This implies that Maltese catches are not competitive, and are capable of improvement. In fact the contribution of the fishing industry is very little towards the productive sector of the Maltese economy. The major reason attributed to this failure as regards productivity in mainly, because of the type of fishing fleet used, the unwillingness of the fishermen to adjourn themselves, and that the Mediterranean does not happen to be very conductive, thus resulting in lack of productivity.