Divers call for Cirkewwa marine sanctuary

Malta Independent Online: Divers call for Cirkewwa marine sanctuary
by Elaine Attard

The Maltese diving community has begun circulating a petition and is organising an awareness-raising campaign urging the authorities to declare Cirkewwa a marine sanctuary.

Experienced diver Antonio Anastasi, who is leading the initiative, told The Malta Independent on Sunday that the area inevitably attracts both divers and fishermen because of two important wrecks − the P29 patrol boat and the Rozi tugboat, which attract large numbers of fish to lay their eggs there.

Although Cirkewwa automatically became a protected area when Malta joined the EU, divers still have to resort to calling the Police Force’s Administrative Law Enforcement (ALE) unit to deal with infringements on an almost daily basis.

“Unfortunately, illegal fishing activities take place even during the night. Illicit fishing includes activities like spear fishing, as well as the laying of trammel nets (pariti) among others,” said Mr Anastasi.

“And the law does not protect this area as a no take zone. The law states that only spear fishing and the laying of trammel nets in the demarcated area of wrecks is prohibited, leaving huge gaps for other infringements such as the taking of sea urchins, octopus or lobster with one’s bare hands, or divers lifting souvenirs from the seabed,” he continued.

Other illegalities include dynamite fishing and the use of fishing gear including bottom lines, gill nets, entangling and encircling nets, demersal pots and traps.

Apart from destroying the habitats on which fish stocks depend, these activities can cause serious or even fatal accidents to divers in the area.

The diving community is calling on the government to declare Cirkewwa a marine protected area, with all types of fishing from boats banned, angling allowed only to the south of the dive site and stricter and constant law enforcement through a greater ALE presence.

It suggests that signs are erected informing people about infringements and related fines to deter illegalities, and that the area is declared a “no take zone” for both live and dead marine creatures, including shells.

The divers have been advised that there is a general consensus among the authorities that the area should be declared protected, but the process for doing this may take up to two years, so in the meantime they came up with the idea of making Cirkewwa a Voluntary Marine Reserve. This is an important first step in seeking this positive change. Almost all Maltese diving organisations agree with the concept and have the support of a number of international organisations as well.

Divers have agreed to abide by a code of conduct, and to educate visitors on the importance of protecting the area. “It is a gentleman’s agreement, so hopefully the stakeholders and people operating in the area will not take anything from the water and so allow it to repopulate into a healthy reserve,” Mr Anastasi explained.

The code of conduct will directly benefit local business owners, the owners of dive centres, divers themselves and even fishermen in the long run. There are hundreds of MPAs all over the world that reflect these environmental and economic advantages. The diving community hopes to bring fishermen and business organisations operating in the area on board too.

Alicia Said, a geography masters student studying the area, notes that the Cirkewwa area is popular with both divers and fishermen, bringing about intense bipolar divergences between the two groups.

“This scenario highlights the need for rational management which falls under the category of multiple use Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). Such areas have a tendency to focus on the biological realm and place little weight on social and economic factors. This biologically-oriented MPA designation process has been perceived as a segregating tool for anthropogenic activities resulting in a successful paper park. It is crucial to focus on people’s values and uses within the marine environment and their perception of the existing threats while seeking operational planning schemes that take into account the motives, behaviour and values of the various stakeholders and move towards a paradigm of ‘managing people’ instead of ‘managing resources’,” Ms Said explained.

“In 2008, a notice to mariners was issued by Transport Malta (at the time the MMA), the main aim of which was to provide safety to divers by restricting a number of fishing and boating practices. However, prohibited fishing practices are still taking place to this day, as a result of inadequate awareness and enforcement deficiencies,” she said.

“Institutional complexity, coupled with a sectoral-based approach, has acted as an impediment to providing the right circumstances for the area to be conserved in a pragmatic manner, with the result that divers have decided to follow a bottom-up approach by joining forces and taking steps to conserve the area,” she continued.

The lobby group, led by Mr Anastasi who has been fighting for the area to be declared a marine sanctuary for 25 years, set up a Facebook group ‘Declare Cirkewwa a Marine Sanctuary NOW’ nearly two years ago. It now has 1,041 members.

In addition, a petition that currently has 651 signatures has been set up online and is aiming for a total number of 30,000 signatures.

While certain divers have a sense of stewardship and a conservation ethic towards the area, others see it as indispensable for the industry of dive-tourism and ultimately contributing to the local economy.

Some 65,000 tourists visited Malta on diving holidays in 2009, according to Malta Tourism Authority statistics, accounting for three per cent of the total number of inbound arrivals who, in turn, leave some 12 per cent of the total tourism revenue for Malta.