Statistics from the Maldives Industrial Fisheries Company (MIFCO) show that 9.3 million rufiyaa has been disbursed for fish sold by fishermen last week. The data indicates that 218 vessels sold fish to MIFCO during the past week. According to the statistics published by the state-owned fishing company MIFCO, 218 vessels sold fish to MIFCO in the past week. This is a 35.8 percent decrease compared to the number of vessels that sold fish to MIFCO in the previous week. In the week before, 340 vessels had sold fish to MIFCO.
While the number of vessels selling fish to MIFCO decreased last week, the amount of money disbursed to fishermen also decreased. As such, a total of 9,390,235 rufiyaa was disbursed to fishermen last week. This is a 43.4 percent decrease compared to the amount disbursed to fishermen in the previous week. In the week before, 16,609,466 rufiyaa was disbursed to fishermen. According to the Monthly Statistics Report of the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA), 52,763 metric tons of fish have been exported from the Maldives in the first 7 months of this year. During the same period last year, 27,950 metric tons of fish were exported. This represents an 88.8% increase. 47,902 metric tons of fresh and chilled marine fish were exported during this period. During the same period last year, 23,234 metric tons of fish were exported. This represents a 106.2% increase.
Fish products constitute the largest share of exports from the Maldives. Increasing the income from the Maldivian fisheries and enhancing the sector’s contribution to the economy is a goal of the government. Efforts are underway to increase fish processing capacity and storage capacity to achieve this. The Ministry of Fisheries has stated that the government’s goal is to increase fish processing capacity by 9 times within 3 years. Advancing the Maldivian fishing industry is an important vision prioritized by the current government. To achieve this vision, the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources has now launched a special training program to generate interest in fishing among youth and bring young people into the fishing sector.
