Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources Ahmed Shiyam has said that fishermen will become aware of the state with the financial assistance arrangements made available through BML. He said this while speaking at a ceremony held to sign an agreement between the ministry and BML to arrange financial assistance for those registered in the National Fisheries Registry.
One of the biggest efforts being made by the government to systematically provide financial assistance from institutions, banks, and financial institutions to fishermen is the work of registering fishermen. As part of this work, a National Fisheries Registry was inaugurated in February of last year.
Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources Ahmed Shiyam said that the main purpose of a national registry is to remove barriers to fishermen benefiting from financial resources and to make fishing an officially recognized occupation in the Maldives.
Shedding light on the work being done by the ministry to compile the fishermen’s registry, Minister Shiyam said that ministry staff have traveled to the atolls of the Maldives to compile the registry, and from the work done so far, 95% of vessels engaged in fishing have been registered. The Minister said that the biggest challenge for those working in the fishing industry has been obtaining loans or financing from banks. He said that through the work done in recent days to solve this issue, arrangements have now been made for financial assistance to be available to those registered in the National Fisheries Registry. The Minister said that this has ensured that fishermen are recognized by the government.
“To achieve this goal, from the very first day, making fishermen recognized by the state will certainly be through such state institutions (BML) providing the benefits or conveniences that are available to those working in other offices and companies in the Maldives, and as I mentioned, even in the civil service, to fishermen. That is what I believe is recognizing the state,” said Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources Ahmed Shiyam.
This government has been working on many efforts to advance and diversify the Maldivian fishing industry. The government’s goal is to further expand the fishing industry and make fishing one of the highest income-generating industries for the Maldives. When this government took office, the biggest concern of fishermen was the issue of not receiving payment for the fish they sold. When this government took office, 250 million rufiyaa was unpaid for fish sold by fishermen. However, the government has said that this money has been paid off and now fishermen are being paid on a daily basis.
The government’s goal is to find solutions to the problems facing the fishing industry within the first 3 years of the government.”
