The government prioritises obtaining premium prices for local fish and fishery products, despite the country’s small size and catch, compared to other countries, Minister of Fisheries and Agriculture Dr. Mohamed Shainee says.
Dr. Shainee said the demand for the country’s fish and fishery products in the international markets is high and that the government is undertaking numerous initiatives to maintain and increase this demand.
Speaking to PSM about the Government’s efforts to further develop the fisheries sector and increase income generated from fish exports, Fisheries Minister Dr. Mohamed Shainee said the international community welcomes the sustainable method of pole and line skipjack and yellow-fin tuna fishery practiced in the Maldives. Dr. Shainee said local fishery products have a high demand in international markets, citing sustainable methods and quality control in packaging and processing of fish and fishery products.
He said the Government’s policies are based on increasing the returns and profits yielded from the fishing industry. He said, under these efforts, the Government is ensuring increase of a wide variety of fishery products, in addition to frozen fish products. He added that increasing the variety of fisheries products has other perks such as creating more job opportunities in the fisheries packaging and processing sectors.
Noting that the demand for skipjack tuna is high in European countries, he said the countries in this region are willing to pay high prices for Maldivian fisheries products. He said that demand for sea cucumber is high in the Middle East while the demand for yellow-fin tuna is high in the Americas.
The Government is also working to introduce ways to ensure freshness and quality of local fishery products which are exported abroad. Under these efforts, the Maldives has been participating in regional and international fisheries related expos and fairs.