The government’s policies to strengthen the fisheries industry are beginning to deliver positive results, including the complete removal of the subsidy previously paid to the Maldives Industrial Fisheries Company (MIFCO) for purchasing fish, according to Minister of Fisheries, Agriculture and Ocean Resources Ahmed Shiyam.
The minister made the remarks while responding to questions from Members of Parliament on matters relating to the fisheries sector.
Minister Shiyam said that long-standing government policies concerning the fisheries industry need to change in order to increase fish exports. He noted that for around 40 years, the country had continued to rely on a single factory in Felivaru, while insufficient effort had been made to expand national processing capacity.
He explained that when the previous government increased the purchase price of fish to USD 1.62 per kilogram, the state had to provide MIFCO with a subsidy of USD 0.84 per kilogram in order to maintain that price. This subsidy amounted to billions of Maldivian Rufiyaa each year. The minister questioned why those funds had not instead been invested in expanding fisheries infrastructure. He added that projects currently underway across the Maldives are expected to triple the country's existing fish processing capacity from 105 tonnes.
According to the minister, government reforms and improvements to MIFCO’s operations have enabled the subsidy for fish purchases to be completely phased out.
“We all accept that the way to increase income from the Maldives’ fisheries is to add value to fish before exporting it. Everyone agrees with that. However, no one actually did it. Instead, subsidies continued to be paid for political reasons, simply to win votes. Today, I can say that the government no longer pays MIFCO a single rufiyaa in subsidy to purchase fish,” Minister Shiyam said.
The minister also highlighted ongoing efforts to expand processing capacity, including the award of a contract to build a new 100-metric-tonne tuna canning factory in Hulhumale'. He said construction is expected to be completed and the facility brought into operation within 18 months.
He further stated that the government’s strategy is to develop the fisheries industry through collaboration between state-owned enterprises and private companies. According to the minister, the positive results of this approach are already becoming evident.