Evaluation of the activity of the Maltese small-scale fishing fleet

摘要

Maltese fisheries are of a typically Mediterranean artisanal type, which are not species selective and are frequently described as multi-species and multi-gear fisheries, with fishermen switching from one gear to another several times throughout the year. There are over 2200 fishing vessels registered in Malta with more than 92 percent measuring less than 10 m in length which, in regional terms, are considered as small-scale vessels. Annual landings recorded at the central fish market normally reachabout 1000 tonnes with more than two-thirds of this weight attributed to large pelagic species. Most of the fish brought to this market are caught by the larger vessels. While a long time series of data on these landings is available, the activities of the small-scale fleet have seldom been monitored.