Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources Ahmed Shiyam departed for France last night to participate as the highest-ranking representative of the Maldives at the third meeting of the United Nations Oceans Conference. Minister Shiyam will deliver a speech on behalf of the Maldives at the opening session of this conference, which will be held in Nice, France from June 9 to 13. In his speech, the Minister will highlight the sustainable fishing practices in the Maldives and shed light on the efforts being made by a small island nation like the Maldives to protect and manage the marine environment. The Minister will also highlight the challenges faced in such efforts in his speech.
The Ministry of Fisheries said that the Maldives is scheduled to participate in various sessions of this conference. One of the most important points that the Maldives will advocate for is the importance of greater international recognition for the efforts of countries that use marine resources sustainably while protecting the fragile marine environment. They also said that they will advocate for the importance of increasing internationally allocated funds for environmental and marine resource protection, and the importance of establishing a system with special privileges for environmentally vulnerable countries like the Maldives and countries that are already taking and implementing adequate measures to protect the environment and use marine resources sustainably when providing assistance through such funds.
They also said that although the Maldives’ tuna fishery is the most environmentally friendly fishery in the world, the Maldives is one of the small island nations exporting fish products that bears the highest tariff burden, and they will explain the challenges this poses for the Maldives to compete on a level playing field in the fish trade. They also said that they will advocate for bringing to international attention the importance of setting tariffs in a way that promotes sustainable fishing when determining tariffs for fish products.
