Former President Mohamed Nasheed has stated that allowing longline fishing in the Maldives will cause significant harm to the country's fisheries sector.
Following the Cabinet's decision to permit longline fishing for yellowfin tuna in the Maldives, the Maldives Ocean Alliance and the Bodu Kanneli Masveringe Union (Yellowfin Tuna Fishermen's Union) have jointly opposed the move and launched an online petition. So far, 13,000 people have signed the petition.
While many in the fisheries sector are raising their voices against longline fishing, President Nasheed has also expressed his opposition to the practice. In a message shared on "X", he stated that longline fishing would result in a large number of manta rays, dolphins, seabirds, and sharks getting caught in the nets. Nasheed noted that this, in turn, would harm both the fisheries and tourism sectors of the Maldives.
"It will damage the Maldives' tourism, which is built on sustainability, and the 'Pole and Line Tuna' brands," Nasheed stated.
Following the Cabinet's decision in March to allow longline fishing for yellowfin tuna in the Maldives, the fisheries-ministry drafted a regulation on longline fishing and published its draft on the 5th of this month. The fisheries-ministry has requested that any public comments regarding the regulation be emailed to fisheriesmanagement@fisheries.gov.mv before 12:00 pm tomorrow.
According to the "Longline Fishing Regulation", longline fishing on a vessel registered in the Maldives can only be carried out with a valid license issued by the fisheries-ministry. The regulation also states that licenses will only be issued for catching bigeye tuna, yellowfin tuna, and billfish.
Under the regulation, targeting sharks in longline fishing is prohibited. Furthermore, vessels licensed under the regulation must not use wire or steel traces as branch lines. Such materials must not be kept on board, and no branch line of any kind should be attached directly to the longline buoy.
As stipulated in the regulation, any live sharks caught on the longline must be released as quickly as possible when retrieving the line. To minimize injury when releasing sharks, a dehooker and line cutter must be used to cut the line as close to the shark's mouth or the hook as possible. Additionally, sharks that are found dead when retrieving the longline may be kept on board to be brought to port, provided that no fins are severed or separated from the body.
The regulation also states that, in addition to the species listed in Appendix 1 of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), it is strictly prohibited to bring oceanic whitetip sharks and silky sharks on board, keep them on the vessel, or weigh them at a processing facility under any circumstances.
