The Maldives Industrial Fisheries Company Limited (MIFCO) has revealed that the number of fish purchased from fishermen increased by 33% in 2023.
Statistics show that the amount of fish purchased from fishermen and the amount of money disbursed to fishermen has increased from January 1 to June 16 this year. MIFCO purchased 39,331T this year, which is a 33% increase compared to the 29,643T of fish purchased during the same period last year. Statistics also show that MIFCO disbursed USD42 million which is a significant increase compared to the USD31 million disbursed to fishermen during the same period last year.
MIFCO has been solving the various challenges in processing fish by upgrading factories and procuring more vessels. As such, the Felivaru Fisheries Complex upgrade project includes the development of a 4000MT cold storage facility, a 200MT brine freezing facility, an 80MT refrigerated seawater facility, as well as a 100MT fish processing factory. The government has also decided to develop a 50MT ice plant and a 100MNT cold storage in Gemanafushi, Gaafu Alifu Atoll, increasing the cold storage capacity of MIFCO by 48% and freezing capacity by 37%.