Maldives Industrial Fisheries Company (MIFCO) has revealed the development of 13 ice plants is underway as part of the aim to make ice more accessible to fishermen. The government is working to build and establish ice plants across the country to make ice easier for fishermen.
Speaking on a programme aired on PSM News, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Ismail Fauzee said MIFCO now has the capacity to produce 825 tonnes of ice per day from the 20 ice plants currently operating in the atolls. He said, however, there are challenges in providing the necessary ice required by fishermen, adding efforts are underway to develop more ice plants to address the issue.
Meanwhile, in efforts to reduce the dependency of fishermen on ice plants, efforts are being made to install Refrigerated Sea Water (RSW) systems on fishing vessels. In this regard, RSW systems have already been established in some fishing vessels in the Maldives.
The government believes fishing vessels can store fish for a longer time with RSW systems, and that it will help in further developing the fisheries industry.