Maldives Industrial Fisheries Company Limited (MIFCO) has disbursed USD64 million to fishermen so far this year.
MIFCO stated that the fisheries sector has improved and the number of fish processed has also increased. MIFCO purchases fish from fishermen as per its capacity. Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of MIFCO Ismail Fauzi said 60,600MT of fish had been purchased from fishermen as of December 14 and USD64 million has been disbursed to them.
The highest number of fish purchases from fishermen was recorded in September this year, according to statistics from MIFCO. The highest number of fish processed and the highest amount of money paid to fishermen in the last 12 years was this year.
The state-owned company is working to solve the issues faced in purchasing fish by developing a cold storage facility at Felivaru Fisheries Complex with a capacity of 4,000 tonnes and a brine-freezing facility with a capacity of 200 tonnes. The efforts also include the establishment of a refrigerated seawater facility and other related facilities.