MIFCO distributes free ice today

The Maldives Industrial Fisheries Company (MIFCO) has announced that free ice will be distributed from all its centers today.

MIFCO decided to distribute free ice to encourage fishermen to go out fishing. MIFCO stated that ice will be distributed from all its centers and the Thinadhoo Ice Plant today until stocks run out.

MIFCO is distributing free ice to fishermen today because vessels have recently been hesitant to go out fishing.

Compared to the past, the number of fishing vessels going out has decreased relatively because crew members are leaving the vessels due to delays in MIFCO paying bills after purchasing fish, and because having to travel to get ice and weigh fish is no longer a financially viable expense. In particular, youth active in fishing have started leaving fishing vessels to take up regular jobs. This is because they are facing difficulties in managing their family expenses.

The company is making many efforts to resolve the issue of delays in paying for fish weighed to MIFCO. Recently, bills are being paid every two weeks. The latest payment for fishermen's bills was made on the 11th of this month. On that day, money was released for fish weighed from July 27 to July 8.