Minister of Fisheries, Marine Resources and Agriculture Dr. Hussain Rasheed Hassan has stated that more high-quality fish products should be exported in order to provide fair prices to fishermen.
Speaking to PSM News, Minister Hassan said that major changes need to be made to fish exports in order to provide fair prices to fishermen. He said that there is not enough revenue in freezing and exporting fish to countries such as Thailand and that it would be more profitable to produce and export high-quality fish products to different markets.
Additionally, Minister Hassan said the lack of factories and cold storage facilities in the most popular fishing locations in the Maldives also contributes to lower prices due to the deteriorated conditions of fish, which leads to fish being processed and exported as raw material. He also said that the government is working on a solution by upgrading the factories of the Maldives Industrial Fisheries Company Limited (MIFCO), increasing the capacity of fish factories across the country, and building more ice plants. He added that the projects will be completed by next year and solve many of the issues in the fisheries sector.
Furthermore, Minister Hassan noted that a major challenge has been the European Union (EU) revoking duty-free status for Maldivian fish exports in 2011 after the country’s economic growth resulted in it being unable to qualify for the tariff reduction provided to developing countries. He said that a 20-26% duty is imposed on Maldivian fish products, which is high compared to other countries in the same category of income. He said that the government is in discussions with the United Kingdom (UK) to obtain duty-free access to fish products.