Malta’s biggest tuna fish-farmer is Charles Azzopardi of Azzopardi Fisheries but politicians all avoid publicly admitting that his farms have been a regular source of the slime that ends up on Malta’s coast because he is also a major political donor. In the last general election he also donated to the political campaign of Alicia Bugeja Said.
So far, the only politician from either the Labour Party or the PN to speak out against the fish farms has been Adrian Delia, though he also avoided mentioning Azzopardi Fisheries directly. The CEO of the Federation of Maltese Aquaculture Producers is Charlon Gouder: Joseph Muscat’s lawyer and business associate.
The image below is from research by Ian Master and can be found here. Malta’s tuna-farms, which create relatively a big export business, are located very close to Malta’s shores. The slime issue has been going on ever since these farms were set up and there was a time when tuna farmers even tried to avoid responsibility. Now, tuna-farmers are admitting that the slime that is ending up on Malta’s shores is coming from their farms.
Charles Azzopardi may need a better representative than Charlon Gouder to conduct reputation damage for the industry but what Charlon Gouder is able to get for the tuna industry through his political contacts may offset his brand-deficiencies.
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