The government has apportioned USD 3.28 million in the State Budget for 2020 to develop fish storage and processing facilities.
Minister of Finance Ibrahim Ameer said the biggest concern of fishermen is the challenges they face in selling fish to state-owned enterprises due to the limited capacity the companies have in processing the catch. He said the issues are aggravated especially when appropriate systems are not in place.
To solve the concern of the fisherman, the State Budget allocates USD 3.28 million to develop the fish processing capacity of the two fish processing centres of Maldives Industrial Fisheries Company Limited (MIFCO).
The budget allocated also will enable the development of other facilities in the processing centres. The budget also includes amounts to develop fish factories in residential islands with the use of contemporary technology.
The minister said the administration also aims to ensure sustainable fishery practices in Maldives under Maldives Sustainable Fisheries Resources Development Project.
The biggest concern of fishermen currently is the lack of proper mechanisms to sell their catch causing the fishermen significant losses. MIFCO has been taking several measures to mitigate the loss borne by fishermen.