President Muizzu decides against allowing longline fishing in Maldives

President Dr Mohamed Muizzu has decided against allowing longline fishing in the Maldives.

Although the Cabinet had earlier decided to allow longline fishing for big-eyed and yellow fin tuna in the country under a special permit, the President decided against this decision.

A statement issued by the President's Office said that the decision was taken taking into account the concerns raised by the 'Bodu Kanneli Masveringe Union' [Fishermen's Union].

Along with this, President Muizzu has also decided to hold meetings with the Fishermen's Union as well as other stakeholders for further discussions on the matter, the President's Office revealed.

It was further detailed that the government will always strive to listen to the views and consultations of the people and formulate government policies to bring about positive changes in the country.

The government's initial decision to allow longline fishing in the country sparked severe criticism from multiple environmental organisations. Their biggest concern was the potential for longline fishing to result in endangered species such as sharks as bycatch.

At the time, the government also said that sharks and other non-target species caught as bycatch would be allowed for processing in accordance with international regulations.

According to the Fisheries Ministry, the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) allocates 47,000 tonnes of yellowfin tuna and 2,000 tonnes of bigeye tuna for capture in the Maldives each year. However, they revealed that Maldivian fishing vessels only catch about 30,000 tonnes of these species.

According to the organisations:

- Longline fishing would further lead to the already overfished yellowfin and swordfish from the Indian Ocean.

- Populations of big-eyed tuna, yellowfintuna, and swordfish are overfished or at risk of overfishing.

- Sharks, yellowfin tuna and swordfish are the main predators in the marine environment and play a very important role in maintaining the marine environment.

- The large-scale harvesting of large prey fish through longline fishing will alter the marine food chain and thus affect the balance and health of the entire environment.

- These changes may have unexpected adverse effects on the sustainability of other marine life and biodiversity.

Longline fishing will boost revenue, no reason not to do it: Minister Shiyam

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