Fisheries Minister Ahmed Shiyam has stated that work is underway to establish Fish Aggregating Device (FAD) centers in the north and south of the Maldives.
Speaking at a press conference held at the President's Office this evening to share information regarding the Fisheries Ministry's work, the Minister said that currently having only one FAD production center poses challenges in deploying FADs across various regions of the country. As a solution to this, work is currently underway to establish FAD centers in the north and south of the Maldives.
The Minister stated that the northern center is being established in Sh. Funadhoo. Accordingly, land has been allocated in Funadhoo for this purpose and land clearing work is ongoing. The Minister noted that the Funadhoo center will be the first FAD center established outside of Hulhumale. He also mentioned that the land required to establish the southern FAD center in GDh. Vaadhoo has now been identified.
With technical assistance from the FAO, pole-and-line FADs specifically for skipjack tuna fishing, and trolling FADs specifically for sports fishing, have been deployed in various regions of the Maldives. Furthermore, FADs are currently being deployed in additional areas under a specific policy.
