Lampuki Season in Malta: A Silver Flash of Mediterranean Tradition

As the heat of August softens into golden light and village bells ring out for Santa Marija festa, something special begins to stir in Malta’s coastal towns. It’s not just a feast day. It’s the first flicker of Lampuki season, a time of sea, history, and exquisite flavour.

From the 15th August until the end of December, Malta’s fishing communities come alive in celebration of a fish that’s not only a staple of the national kitchen, but a symbol of island identity. Known globally as mahi-mahi or dorado, and called lampuka in Maltese, this silver-and-gold fish arrives like clockwork each year.

And for those who call Malta home, lampuki season is more than a menu item. It’s a moment of cultural significance.

A Luzzu: a traditional Maltese fishing boat

A Heritage Born on the Water

The season opens each year in Marsaxlokk, Malta’s iconic fishing village, with a blessing of the boats on the Feast of the Assumption. Families gather by the harbour. Fishermen lean on sun-weathered railings. The salty air carries prayers and expectation. It’s a ritual that roots modern life in something timeless.

Once blessed, the boats head to sea, and so begins the rhythm of the catch.

Lampuki are fast swimmers and prolific breeders, capable of reproducing up to three times a year. But catching them still requires patience, knowledge, and centuries-old technique. Maltese fishermen use kannizzati, floating rafts of palm fronds that create shade just beneath the surface. Attracted to the shadow, the lampuki gather there, ready to be caught.

And with skill passed down through generations, they’re brought aboard in a dance as old as the Roman Empire.

A Fish With Many Lives: Lampuki

What makes lampuki so beloved across Malta isn’t just tradition, it’s versatility.

This fish shines on every table, whether served grilled with lemon and sea salt, folded into Aljotta (Maltese fish soup), or baked into the iconic Lampuki pie, layered with spinach, olives, capers, and sultanas. Its tender white flesh pairs beautifully with Mediterranean flavours, from garlicky sauces to sun-dried tomato relishes.

It’s also a treat very specific to Malta. Unlike many local fish, lampuki is rarely exported, it stays close to home, enjoyed fresh and often sold right off the back of fishermen’s trucks in a melodic chorus heard throughout villages from Żebbuġ to Għaxaq.

Lampuki fish after catching

Festivals, Families, and the Sound of the Sea

Throughout autumn, Malta plays host to a number of Lampuki festivals, most notably the Marsaxlokk Fish Festival, where culinary demos meet community celebration. Here, under sun-soaked canopies, you can watch chefs transform the day’s catch into art, taste recipes passed down through generations, and chat with the very families who hauled in your plate’s centrepiece. It’s a celebration of more than food, it’s a living museum of Malta’s maritime culture.

Sustainability at Sea

Regulations continue to preserve the species and honour the sea’s generosity. Recreational fishermen are limited to five lampuki per day or 10kg, and fish must measure over 35cm. Professional quotas ensure that Malta’s oceans stay abundant, and that the balance between tradition and sustainability is maintained, allowing this tradition to be honoured year after year.

Mgarr Harbour in Gozo, a local fishing village and main harbour of Gozo Island, Malta.

The Taste of the Season

To visit Malta in autumn is to discover this rhythm: of waves breaking on golden stone, of stories exchanged over fillets and flaky pies, of a people rooted deeply in the Mediterranean and shaped by its every season.

So whether you’re dining by candlelight in Valletta or tearing off a piece of lampuki pie in a sunlit square, you’re not just eating a meal. You’re taking part in a ritual of place, history, and flavour.

And as the lampuki shimmer beneath the surface once again, Malta reminds us that sometimes, the most luxurious things come not from invention, but from honouring what’s already here: fresh, local, and deeply loved.