President to increase price floor of tuna

President Mohamed Nasheed announced last week plans to dramatically overhaul government fish policy, pledging an increase on the price floor of catch.

The price floor of a kilo of tuna has been around US$0.27 since 2005, but addressing media, Nasheed said the government intended to increase this to around US$0.47."We believe the floor price should be at least six rufiyaa (US$0.47)," said the president, adding he believed local fishermen were entitled to earn the same amount as in the international market.

Nasheed added he intended to change the price floor of catches from every six months to every week.

The president noted there was no competition among buyers, as a result of giving "exclusivity" to certain markets."We are planning to widen the market by negotiating between the existing sellers and buyers," he said.

The main fish exporting companies include the Maldives Industrial Fisheries Company (MIFCO), Island Enterprises Pvt Ltd and Horizon Fisheries Pvt Ltd. Fishing is the second leading sector in the Maldives after tourism, contributing 11 percent of GDP.

Mohamed Hassan, a fisherman from Huvadhu atoll, said the president's decision to fix the floor price according to the international market price every week was a long-standing demand from fishermen."I thank the president," said the 37-year old. "Previously, buyers were taking advantage of the six-month period, without taking the latest market prices into consideration."

Ali Saeed, 42, a fisherman from Addu atoll said he would only comment once the government went ahead with its plans.He added the increase suggested by the president was nominal and there were still numerous other factors that needed to be taken into account."We have to travel 150 miles to catch only four tons of fish, which uses up 1,200 litres of diesel," he said. "And a litre of diesel costs Rf7.95 (US$0.62), while we only get Rf5.50 (US$0.43) for a kilo."

The main markets for Maldivian fish exports are Thailand, Germany, Japan, UK, Iran and Sri Lanka.

Speaking to Minivan News in early March, state minister Adhil Saleem, former chairman of the Maldives Industrial Fisheries Company (MIFCO), said Maldivian fish exports "should get a better price" in the West where "sustainability and conservation" is valued.Adhil said fish caught by pole-and-line fishing in the Maldives received the same price as products from countries that use net fishing, even though it was more environmentally-friendly.

source: minivannews.com

MPs call for easier loan repayment schemes for fishermen

Members of the People’s Majlis on Monday called on the Government to lower the interest rates on loans granted to fishermen and increase the loan repayment periods.

The resolution submitted by the Gaafu Alifu atoll MP Abdulla Jabir at Monday’s sitting of the People’s Majlis was supported by a large number of the MPs who spoke at the meeting.

They agreed that the biggest issue faced by fishermen and boat owners currently was the fact that the interest on their loans was so high and the repayment periods so short.Hassan Afeef, Thaa atoll MP and president of the MDP’s Parliamentary Group, said that decreasing the interest rates and increasing the loan repayment period was something that could be done immediately.

Speaking at Majlis, Jabir said that the problem was the fact that neither the previous administration nor the incumbent Government had paid enough attention to the fisheries industry. He further said that the license to harvest fish in the EEZ was given under an agreement and should be terminated if the foreign companies acted in violation of the agreement.

He had also questioned why there wasn’t a Fisheries Tourism Board like there was a Tourism Promotion Board.

Fishermen’s protest enters second day

A protest organized by the Islamic Democratic Party (IDP) to demand the rights of the country’s fishermen has entered its second day despite a sharp decline in the amount of people taking part in the protest.

21 hours after the protest began, the number of fishing vessels that had been moved into the harbor area in front of the President’s Office had gone down to five.

In comparison, on Friday night there had been eight fishing boats in the area and few more were being prepared to take part in the protest near the No. 1 jetty.The first of the fishing vessels had docked in the harbor near the President’s Office at around 2:30pm on Friday.

On the boat were IDP President Umar Naseer and some other party members. They had remained on the boat until sunset yesterday.

dhimaku media cordinator at the scene this morning said that there were no sign of Umar Naseer or any IDP party members around 11:00am.

The demonstration had been organized by the IDP to demand the lowest selling price for yellow-fin tuna to be increased to Rf45, to stop MIFCO’s fishing vessels from going fishing and to establish services to provide clean water and boat refueling from the Malé Fish Market area. Further the protesters have demanded for dry ice to be easily available to fishermen.

The fishermen who had taken part in the protests had stood on the boats and shouted that they would not stop the protest until their demands were met.Due to the demonstration in progress the area has been cordoned off, blocking off access to the public.