According to Census on Fisheries conducted by the National Office of Statistics tuna cages covered areas comparing to 11 football pitches. The report mentioned that the total number of cages is 80 which are used for aquaculture in Malta occupying a total surface area of 78,773 square metres, equal to 11 football grounds.
The report also revealed that total production of farmed fish in 2005 amounted to 5.1 million kilograms that yields a value of EURO 48 million. It also reported that Bluefin tuna alone accounted for 82.6 percent of the total weight of farmed fish that yields EURO 44 million.
Currently Aquaculture has employed 192 people out of which 130 are working on a full-time basis while the remaining 62 works on part time basis. There are 28 foreign workers working for Aquaculture. The census revealed that tuna penning under the garb of tuna farming.
According to the World Wildlife Fund there is distinction between true aquaculture, where fish are bred and reared in captivity; and tuna penning, which involves the fattening in cages of wild-caught tuna. The WWF has warned that over fishing of tuna in Malta could lead to the extinction of the species.
