Minister of Fisheries, Marine Resources and Agriculture Zaha Waheed has announced the issues highlighted by European Union (EU) regarding the Maldivian fisheries industry in the past five years have been corrected. The minister made the remarks in response to a question at the Parliament of Maldives today.
The fisheries minister stated that officials from the Office of the Director General for Maritime and Fisheries of EU have visited Maldives four times since 2015, adding during those visits EU noted several issues in the Maldivian fisheries industry. The minister said the EU delegation was concerned about the non-compliance of rules and regulations established in the industry. She also stated EU warned Maldives that legal actions would be taken if the issues persisted.
Fisheries Minister Zaha added the issues highlighted by EU include taking legal action against Maldivian and foreign vessels that violate regulations, keeping a close lookout for the foreign vessels entering Maldivian harbours, taking regular reports on the catch of fish, maintaining traceability in exporting and transporting fish and correcting the flaws in the rules and regulations established in the industry. The minister announced all the issues highlighted by EU were fixed last year, noting the administration conducted successful efforts to curb illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing.
EU’s mission visited Maldives from February 23 to 25. Following the visit, the EU mission praised the fisheries ministry for the successful efforts in curbing illegal fishing. Minister Zaha thanked the parliamentarians and the Speaker of the Parliament Mohamed Nasheed for helping to formulate the new Fisheries Act.
It is a necessity for EU to confirm the fish imported into Europe is not caught through illegal fishing and are prepared in compliance to laws and regulations. Hence, Maldives, being a country that exports a vast number of fish products to Europe, is expected to follow the rules put forth by EU.