The Maldives Industrial Fisheries Company Limited (MIFCO) has disbursed USD65 million to fishermen in 2022.
Statistics show that MIFCO purchased 64,000MT of fish for USD65 million in 2022, which is an increase compared to the 58,000MT of fish purchased for USD59 million in 2021. The highest number of fish purchases from fishermen in 2022 was recorded in 2022, with 8,600MT of fish purchased for USD9.6 million.
MIFCO stated that the fisheries sector has improved and the number of fish processed has also increased. As such, the highest number of fish processed and the highest amount of payments made to fishermen in the last 12 years was recorded in 2022.
Furthermore, the government is making efforts to develop MIFCO, which includes the Felivaru Fisheries Complex upgrading project. It is carried out under the assistance of the EXIM Bank of India and includes the development of a 4,000MT cold storage facility, a 200MT brine freezing facility, an 80MT refrigerated seawater facility, as well as a 100MT fish processing factory. The project is expected to increase MIFCO’s cold storage capacity by 48% and freezing capacity by 37%. The company also purchased three boats to increase its fish purchasing capacity.