Member State report / Art14 / 2022 / D9 / Malta / Mediterranean: Ionian Sea & Central Mediterranean Sea

Report type Member State report to Commission
MSFD Article Art. 14 Exceptions (and Art. 17 updates)
Report due 2022-10-15
GES Descriptor D9 Contaminants in seafood
Member State Malta
Region/subregion Mediterranean: Ionian Sea & Central Mediterranean Sea
Reported by Environment and Resources Authority
Report date 2024-02-07
Report access 363

Marine reporting units
  • MIC-MT-MS-01
Region subregion
MED Ionian Sea and Central Mediterranean Sea
Exception code
MICMT-E03
Exception old code
Exception name
Exceedances to regulatory levels of contaminants in retail samples of pelagic fish
Exception type
Art. 14(1)(a)
Exception reason
Action (e.g. environmental damage) caused by a third party for which the Member State is not responsible
GES achieved
Relevant pressures
  • Contaminants - in seafood
Relevant targets
GES component
  • D9
  • D9C1 Contaminants in seafood (9.1, 9.1.1)
Relevant features
  • Demersal shelf fish
  • PresEnvBycatch
Justification description
Malta notes that concentrations of contaminants in seafood are a result of contaminants not only in seafood stocks from Maltese waters but also from regional sources. To this end measures imposed by Malta alone would not be sufficient to avoid contaminant levels in seafood, particularly in large pelagic fish. No environmental targets have as yet been put forward by Malta for MSFD Descriptor 9. However this exception is relevant to the frequency of exceedances of contaminants in fish, which should be minimised to the extent possible for the achievement of GES.
Spatial scope geographic zones
EEZ (or similar)
Mitigation
Measures ad hoc
Further information
Section 3.3 https://era.org.mt/topic/msfd-programme-of-measures/