Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) has said fish purchases made by fish processing companies in November 2016 totalled 5,752.2 metric tonnes, representing a growth of 14 percent in annual terms.
“Despite the increase in annual terms, fish purchases saw a monthly decline of 5 percent,” the central bank said.
According to the central bank's monthly economic review, both the volume and earnings of fish exports declined annually by 50 percent and 37 percent respectively during the month of September.
“The decline in the volume of fish exports was mainly on account of a fall in the volume of frozen skipjack tuna exports. Meanwhile, the decline in fish export earnings was largely due to a fall in earnings from both frozen skipjack tuna; and fresh or chilled yellowfin tuna exports,” MMA said.