Statistics from the Maldives Industrial Fisheries Company (MIFCO) show that 14.4 million rufiyaa has been paid to fishermen for their catch last week. According to MIFCO’s statistics, the amount of fish purchased by MIFCO has increased over the past week. As such, while 14.4 million rufiyaa has been paid to fishermen for their catch, this is a 50% increase compared to the previous week. In the previous week, MIFCO had paid 9.6 million rufiyaa to 186 vessels.
Last week, MIFCO paid out the highest amount on Wednesday. On that day, 4.3 million rufiyaa was paid to 45 vessels. In line with President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu’s pledge, payments for fish purchases are being made within 48 hours. The implementation of this pledge began on the past Fishermen’s Day. According to information provided by MIFCO, the number of fishing vessels going out to sea has increased with this new system.
It is the government’s goal to further expand the fishing industry and make it one of the largest revenue-generating industries for the Maldives. As such, work is underway to develop fishing facilities to solve the problems faced by the fishing industry within the first 3 years of the government.
Furthermore, with the assistance of the Islamic Development Bank, the company is working on establishing a fish canning factory in Hulhumalé. In addition to establishing cold storage facilities, it is noteworthy that many efforts are being made to improve processing capacity. Moreover, as pledged to provide fuel to fishermen at STO rates, work is progressing to establish fuel supply stations on one island in each atoll, with the government stating that these stations will be completed before March of next coming year.
