The Ministry of Fisheries has decided that starting yesterday, fishing licenses will not be renewed for vessels that are not registered in the national fishermen's registry.
The Ministry of Fisheries stated that from October 1 onwards, only vessels registered in the national fishermen's registry will be eligible for a fishing license. The ministry also noted that fishing vessels applying for license renewal after this date will not have their licenses renewed if they are not registered in the registry.
Regarding this matter, the State Minister of the Ministry of Fisheries, Mohamed Muttalib, stated that this measure was not taken to cause difficulties for fishermen in any way, but rather to facilitate the recording of catch data through the 'Keyolhu' application.
"Catch data will be entered through the registry. Therefore, catch data cannot be entered for vessels not registered in the registry, right? If catch data cannot be entered, the condition for the license will not be met. That is why this restriction is coming into place. Currently, a requirement for sending information to the IOTC is that they enter catch data on a daily basis. Instead of writing data in a logbook as before, it is now sent via the app. Due to these reasons, the issuance of licenses is restricted," Muttalib said.
With the aim of making fishermen a group recognized by the state, the 'Keyolhu' mobile application was launched on February 16, 2024, to compile a national fishermen's registry, and the Ministry of Fisheries has done a lot of work to complete this registry. In this regard, in addition to contacting the responsible parties of fishing vessels, ministry staff have traveled to fishing islands and fish purchasing harbors to provide information to vessel owners and fishermen on how to register in the registry. However, while there are 474 fishing vessels licensed for fishing in the Maldives, only 301 vessels were registered in the registry as of October 1.
The ministry stated that the information collected through the national fishermen's registry is crucial for optimally designing fisheries development projects and implementing government policies to adequately provide the services needed by fishermen. Therefore, they request that fishing vessels not currently registered in the registry do so as soon as possible.
"We request that you register in the registry as soon as possible. Even if there are difficulties, contact the ministry to resolve them and register. What happens is that when the fishing process is completed, in addition to the benefits received by the fisherman, it is also important for collecting the necessary data to manage the fishery. Therefore, registering and moving forward is important for shaping the entire fishing industry. Since this is a data collection app, I want to emphasize that the full cooperation of fishermen is needed in this matter," Muttalib said.
The ministry has published a guide on how to register in the registry. Additionally, a video regarding registration has been published on the ministry's website. If any issues arise during registration, the ministry requests that a message be sent to the Viber number (7928721) of the ministry's Fisheries Compliance Section.
How to register in the National Fishermen's Registry. pic.twitter.com/bjQcO7KMf7
— Ministry of Fisheries and Ocean Resources (@MFORmv) August 9, 2024
While arrangements are in place to solve many of the problems faced by fishermen through the registry, it is important to register in the registry as soon as possible.
