The Ministry of Fisheries has commenced the third meeting of the Fishermen's Forum, an ongoing series aimed at seeking fishermen's consultation and increasing their participation in planning and managing the fishing industry.
The one-day workshop, currently underway at Meerumaa, is specifically targeted at individuals engaged in various types of reef fishing. Designed to represent all atolls of the Maldives, the meeting features a total of 60 participants, including those directly active in reef fishing, councils, and other stakeholders.
The workshop, which aims to discuss ways to sustainably develop recreational fishing, was inaugurated by Minister of Fisheries Ahmed Shiyam. In his opening remarks, the Minister highlighted the government's ongoing efforts to increase state revenue from the fishing industry and boost the income of those active in the sector. He also noted that President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu places great importance on resolving the challenges facing the fishing industry and making fishing a sustainable practice. Specifically, the Minister outlined the government's commitment to making sports fishing a state-recognized activity, on par with pole-and-line fishing. He detailed the government's manifesto pledge to establish dedicated harbours for sports fishing and shared how the government is proceeding with the implementation of this initiative.
"The Cabinet has now designated specific areas in the Maldives to establish sports fishing harbours. The Ministry's team is currently undertaking the necessary administrative work to announce these areas for bidding. God willing, we will soon be able to open these harbours to both domestic and foreign investors for development," Minister Shiyam said.
The Minister stated that the sports fishing community in the Maldives is very large, particularly in the Malé area. Therefore, the Ministry's efforts have been shaped to register the individuals active in this community and to provide them with better services than before.
"This is a very large community that has been largely neglected. The sports fishing community in the Maldives is one that has not been given the official status it deserves from the state. We hope that through the important objective of registering fishermen and making them a group recognized by the state overall, those active in sports fishing in the Maldives will also become registered and state-recognized entities. Our work is currently structured towards that goal," Minister Shiyam said.
The main purpose of today's meeting is to establish an environment for consultation among fishermen active in reef fishing, and to discuss the main challenges facing reef fishing as well as the opportunities for developing the sector. The Ministry of Fisheries stated that it also provides an opportunity for reef fishermen to share their ideas and consultations with policymakers, thereby incorporating their input into the formulation of fisheries plans.
Today's meeting began with a presentation delivered by the Maldives Marine Research Institute. The presentation shared the findings of research conducted by the institute regarding sports fishing with the participants. This was followed by a session where participants could pose questions to the Ministry's policymakers, including the Minister of Fisheries. During this session, reef fishermen presented the challenges they face and their ideas for developing reef fishing.
The afternoon sessions are being conducted as group work. These sessions include identifying how reef fishing operates, marking reef fishing areas, understanding the seasons and off-seasons of reef fishing, identifying the challenges and opportunities in reef fishing, and determining the essential services that reef fishermen believe should be available at the sports fishing harbours established by the government, as well as how they envision these facilities should be designed.
