Aquaculture strategy for Malta published

The study, led by Stirling Aquaculture, with inputs from PriceWaterhouse Coopers and Tektraco International Technology, identified potential for Malta’s aquaculture industry to contribute Euro120 million to the Maltese economy by 2025 and be responsible for the employment of 2,000 people.

The Maltese aquaculture industry traces its origin to the late 1980s when key authors of this report, David Scott and Trevor Meyer, were involved in the fledgling sector based on seabass and sea bream. Today the sector is heavily geared towards capturing live bluefin tuna and fattening them before harvest and sale, mainly to the Japanese market.

If tuna stocks recover this could remain the cornerstone of the sector, but closing the tuna culture cycle is still the desired route along with diversification into other species.