Once again our fisherman are forced to throw away tons of their fish :: Maldives News :: Dhivehi Observer

Editorial
Once again our fishermen are forced to throw away tons of fish

By A. S. I. Moosa (Sappe'),14 November 2005

For centuries the people of Maldives earned their living primarily by fishing. Tourism was introduced some 30 years ago yet it is now contributes to roughly 70% of the country's GDP and the fisheries industry has been declining since Gayyoom came to power in 1978. The main reason for that is that he refused to open up the fisheries industry for over 25 years and his illicit government had a complete monopoly over the export of Maldives fish.

The fishermen of Maldives are among the best in the world, with over 2,500 years of experience. Many economists believe that if the government had invested in Fisheries as they did in Tourism, this sector would now contribute much more to the economy.

The problem did not end there. The institutes that were in charge of buying and selling the Maldives fish was run by Gayyoom's family members, who embezzled millions of dollars from the project. His brother in law, Ilyas Ibrahim, who is the current Health Minister, was accused of theft and corruption by none other than Gayyoom himself after Ilyas challenged him for office in 1988. Ilyas was in charge of Fisheries Project Implementation Department (FPID) for more than 15 years. Later, it was known as Maldives Industrial Fisheries Company (MIFCO) which was headed by Gayyoom's own brother Yameen until last year. He also embezzled several millions from the company. As a result poor Maldivian fisherman and their families were deprived of basic needs in life, such as education and health.

Until recently, purchase, processing and export of tuna in the Maldives including canning factories were owned and monopolised by the government. In major fishing islands such as G Dh. Thinadhoo, 80% of the time the catch cannot be sold to the Government company Maldives Industrial Fisheries Company (MIFCO). Some of the highest wastages were recorded in 1998 when out of an average catch of 10,000 kgs MIFCO only bought 500 kgs. This meant that the unsold catch, 9500 kgs were thrown back into sea as waste because the fisherman could not process it, freeze or cook it.

In UK, the price of fresh chilled tuna is nearly US$23 per kg. The purchase price for a kilo of fresh tuna in Maldives is approximately US$0.20 (20 cents)!

Most Maldives tuna is exported at a cheap rate to Asia, especially Bangkok. It is believed that to export to the EU, Maldives will have to invest more in the industry to meet EU processing standards. Furthermore, it will expose the wealth of the fisheries industry to the wider world. When deals are done in cheaper markets, there are lots of commissions to be made. It has been reported that the chairman of MIFCO received over US$1 from each kilogram of tuna sold in Bangkok.

In 2001, Gayyoom privatised the fisheries sector by selling off investments in Maandhoo Fisheries Complex and also by providing export licenses to four different parties in over 50% of the Maldives fishing area. The country was divided from north to south into four zones. The most lucrative Zones, 2 and 4 still remain firmly under the control of Gayyoom and his associates, despite the private companies showing greater ability and more efficiency in the business and management of their licences.

The fisheries sector does not receive priority from the government. Maldivians are fully aware of the lack of investment opportunities and financing available to fishermen and industry leaders.

The following excerpt from the QUARTERLY ECONOMIC BULLETIN JUNE 2004 - www.mma.gov.mv/qeb/jun04.pdf (the document has since been removed but we have a copy ../docs/mar04.pdf ) explains why the country remains poor and why the tourism sector contributes to 33% of the GDP: 'In terms of the sectoral allocation of credit during the quarter, credit to the tourism sector accounted for the largest share of total credit to the private sector (58 percent). Such credit increased by Rf160.1 million, or by 11 percent during the three months to June 2004. This was compared with an increase of 14 percent during the previous quarter. Credit to the commerce sector holds the second largest share (19 percent) of the private sector credit portfolio. After a decline of 6 percent in the first quarter of 2004, such credit increased by 14 percent during the review quarter. As regards the annual movements in credit to both these sectors, the tourism sector showed a strong growth of over 34 percent, whilst the commerce sector recorded a growth of 3 percent in the year to June 2004. Credit to the fisheries sector accounted for 7 percent of the private sector credit portfolio and recorded a quarterly increase of 6 percent during the three months to June 2004 compared to a 21 percent growth during the previous quarter.'

What is really sad is that despite all the experiences of the industry and past event, Gayyoom has yet again failed to live up to the expectation of our fisherman and to make it the real life line of the Maldives economy. Even now, as before, tons of tuna are being thrown back into sea because Gayyoom's government owned company and the recently formed private companies are unable to buy the catch from the fisherman. This week, the fish catch is very good in the Southern Atoll, with each boat catching an average of 40 tons yet the fisheries company MIFCO is only buying 6 tons from each boat. This has once again outraged the people in the Atoll, who say that since the tsunami of last December, this is the best catch they are getting and on the second day of the season they are faced with this desperate situation.

Is it not time for Gayyoom to loosen up the grip he has on the lives of Maldivians? Is it not time for him to open up the fisheries industry and stop controlling the purchase, processing and export of our fish?

Gayyoom obviously cannot handle or manage the situation but still he does not want to call it a day and leave the job to professionals.

Published today are some articles from the past, which clearly shows that this problem is not new to Gayyoom.