The Maldives Industrial Fisheries Company Limited (MIFCO) has revealed a high amount of fish is purchased despite the decreased number of vessels going fishing during the holy month of Ramadan.
Speaking to PSM News, Chief Executive Officer of MIFCO Ismail Fauzee said that the holy month of Ramadan is usually a month of few fishing vessels. He, however, said that the amount of fish caught by MIFCO in Ramadan is not low despite the low number of fishing vessels. He said that more than 250 tonnes of fish are purchased on average daily. He also said that between 350-450 tonnes of fish are purchased by MIFCO on other days.
MIFCO stated that one of the biggest complaints from the fishermen is ways to sell their catch for a good price. As such, MIFCO has started bringing in four vessels to increase the fish processing capacity as a solution. The first of these vessels called Jazeera 103 arrived on April 6. The vessel also has a freezing capacity of 120MT of fish and a storage capacity of 420MT.
MIFCO has stated that the fisheries sector has improved and the number of fish processed has also increased. As such, MIFCO is making efforts to increase its capacity by acquiring more fish processing vessels and establishing more fish processing facilities in different parts of the country.
In 2022, the state-owned company recorded the highest number of fish processed and the highest amount of payments made to fishermen in the last 12 years, with 64,000MT of fish purchased for USD69.2 million.