On 26 February 2026, by virtue of Legal Notice 51 of 2026 titled “Establishement of the Ċirkewwa Marine Park Regulations, 2026”, the Ċirkewwa Marine Park has been legally established in law.
The Ċirkewwa Marine Park, first announced in 2021, is the first such marine park established in the Maltese Islands. Despite being a primary go-to diving site, the location of two artificial wrecks (former AFM Patrol Boat P29 and Tug Boat Rozi), only minor recognition was given to the area in legal terms. This despite funding that exceeded €600,000 in the years 2020-2024 by the Malta Tourism Authority in setting up the park.
Minor recognition was given mainly through via various iterations of Notices to Mariners issued by Transport Malta under the direction of the Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture declaring the areas around certain wrecks as conservation zones, including the ones at Ċirkewwa, or as properly named in maps, Marfa Point. In these zones, certain but not all types of fishing and boating activity was restricted.
Divers campaigned in 2024 to further the protection level from a health & safety point of view which resulted in the area around wrecks becoming a no boating zone, resulting in an updated Notice to Mariners in September 2024 and which co-incidentally has again been updated on 27 February 2026 with Notice 025 of 2026.
In 2025, further campaigning was carried out, including with petitions and communications to authorities, although it is to be noted that in many of these instances, no official feedback was provided. Official designation of the area was one of the topics that divers called for.
What does this “establishment” of the park mean?
The Legal Notice 51 of 2026 is issued in terms of the Environmental Protection Act (Chapter 549 of the Laws of Malta), whereby under article 54 (1), the Minister for Environment is empowered to make regulations for environment protection, including designation of marine sites (article 54(2)(m)(vi).
One expected step now is the publishing of management plans and actual regulations for the Ċirkewwa Marine Park. A draft management plan had been announced in January 2023. Some of the aspects of that draft management plan have already been enacted by the site managers Nature Trust FEE Malta, but many points have remained pending. We trust that some preparations have been made over the past few years and that the actual final management plan and regulations are published within the coming weeks or months, hopefully not years!
One key aspect as well to consider is the zonation, or dissection of the vast area of the Marine Park, which stretches from Marfa Point (known better as the Ċirkewwa diving site) south up till Ras il-Qammieħ as per the map below which is included in the Legal Notice.
In view of the various and different uses of the areas within the park, which include diving, spearfishing, recreational boating, recreational, transport (the area includes the South Quay which is used in inclement weather by the Gozo Ferries), fishing from shore and boats, it is expected that the area is dissected into varied zones with different allowed and prohibited activities.
Enforcement of regulations may also be subject to fines as under the Act, which are way heftier than previous measures, though as usual, we stand to be guarded on the extent of real enforcement of any regulations, which many times had to be pushed via actions by divers and NGOs such as the Malta Sea Ranger Unit.
Divers’ take
From a divers’ point of view, this announcement is much welcome. Over the years the establishment of the Park has pretty much moved at a snail’s pace, with the announcement in 2021 not having been supported by the necessary legislation. So much so, that so far, not even a sign indicating the area to be a Marine Park has been placed.
It is now to be seen if the next steps move ahead smoothly, or whether bureacracy and other bodies’ interests keep slowing down the establishment of the park in practice, not on paper.
Furthermore, one has to see what regulations will be set, and in what manner these will be enforced. Divers’ representatives have also requested to participate as stakeholders in discussions on such regulations and in the park’s council, something which was re-iterated in the recent consultation preceding this legal notice.
Whilst as divinginfo.mt we have been assured our calls have been heard by the Environmental Resources Authority in a recent meeting on the back of these consultations, we expect further updates in the near future.