Ministry: No quota fee for vessels engaging in longline fishing with all-Maldivian crew

Fisheries Ministry states vessels engaging in longline wishing with a 100-percent Maldivian crew will not be charged the quota fee.

The Ministry held a press conference on Wednesday to brief the media regarding the works undertaken by the Ministry to develop Maldives’ fisheries sector.

Speaking at the press conference, State Minister Mohamed Muthalib said longline fishing is very much designed for Maldivians.

In this regard, he detailed that only a license fee will be charged from vessels engaging in longline fishing with a 100-percent Maldivian crew while this fee will also be reduced by 50 percent.

“Henceforth, vessels with 100-percent Maldivian crew will not have to any quota fees. 50 percent of the quota fee will be cut for vessels with an 80 percent Maldivian crew,” he said.

State Minister Muthalib also announced that a loan will soon be introduced to modify vessels currently engaging in yellowfin-tuna fisheries to shift to longline fishing.

He stressed that efforts related to longline fishing are not undertaken in a manner that will disrupt the operations of yellowfin tuna fishermen.

Speaking further, State Minister Muthalib said there are persistent obstructions in yellowfin-tuna fisheries in the Maldives as efforts are undertaken to diversify the fisheries sector. One such obstruction he highlighted in this regard is the small size of yellow-fin tuna that are caught, detailing they are mostly below 30 kilos.

Henceforth, the Minister said yellowfin-tuna fisheries vessels can be modified to enter longline fishing in order to ensure a path to remain in the fisheries sector.

Fisheries Ministry had formulated a draft regulation on longline fishing under the discretion provided to the Ministry by Article 3 of the Maldives Fisheries Act. As per the regulation, longline fishing will only be allowed for yellowfin and bigeye tuna. The regulation also outlines extending a license to export processed sharks that get caught and die during long-line fishing.