Fishermen will not have to wait in long queues to weigh their catch to state-owned fisheries firm, Maldives Industrial Fisheries Company (MIFCO), Minister of Fisheries and Ocean Resources, Ahmed Shiyam has assured.
Responding to a question by an opposition lawmaker during the Parliament sitting on Tuesday, Minister Shiyam pointed out that fishermen have to wait in queue to weigh their catch every year during fishing season.
He also noted that Maldives has been experiencing a good fishing season since November last year, with January and February proving better for fishing than the same period than the previous two years.
The Minister said MIFCO will be able to cater to all the fishing boats waiting in queue in the next couple of days.
Minister Shiyam said despite the recurrent theme of long queues every fishing season, no government to date has even attempted to address the issue.
However, he assured that fishermen will no longer have to queue up outside MIFCO from next year.
“Hopefully this will be the last year that fishermen have to wait in line. We will do away with this queue through the government's development plan or in the development of the fisheries industry. Hopefully we will improve the fishing industry where fishermen can fish without queuing up no matter how good the fishing season is,” he explained.
The Minister also expressed concern over the low capacity of the vessels purchased by the previous government for MIFCO, adding that many of the vessels are out of commission.
But the Minister said the government is putting in every effort to bring these vessels back into operation.
"The Jazeera vessels purchased by the previous government for MIFCO have very poor efficiency. Most of the vessels are out of operation. We had started repairs to Jazeera 2 and Jazeera 3 to bring them into operation by the fishing season. When we bring these two vessels back into service, it will go a long way to easing the queue,” Minister Shiyam said.
According to the Minister, MIFCO’s current capacity is 420 tonnes. However, some days MIFCO has to cater to more than 450 tonnes, he added.
The government has acknowledged that the Maldives struggles to fetch the best price for its fish products due to lack of adequate storage capacity. As a result, over 65 percent of fish caught have to be exported as raw fish.
Under efforts to address this issue, plans are in place to increase Kooddoo’s cold storage capacity by an additional 4,000 tonnes. While the current cold storage capacity across the Maldives is 8,500 tonnes, it is a presidential pledge of President Dr Mohamed Muizzu to double this capacity. The government now aims to triple it to 25,000 tonnes. According to the Fisheries Minister, 15,500 tonnes will be added during the current presidential term.
Yellowfin Tuna Factory Project to Begin This Year
Responding to another question by a lawmaker during Tuesday’s Parliament sitting, Minister Shiyam revealed plans to begin the project to establish a yellowfin tuna processing factory in Hulhumalé, Malé City this year.
According to the Minister, the government has already secured the necessary funding for the project from Islamic Development Bank (ISDB).
He said the government will invite interested contractors to build the factory in the next two months and get the project off the ground by June this year.
"Hopefully we will announce it within the next two months. We expect the work to start in the middle of this year. This is not such a large facility so we expect it to be completed by the middle of next year,” he explained.
The Minister pointed out that the primary concerns of yellowfin tuna fishermen have been a lack of a packing facility and not receiving fuel at government subsidised rates.
After facilitating the process for fishermen to receive fuel at subsidised rates through State Trading Organisation (STO), the Hulhumale’ factory will ease the primary two concerns of local fishermen, he added.