Aim is to increase canned tuna production to 300 tonnes a day: Shiyam

Minister of Fisheries and Ocean Resources Ahmed Shiyam has said today that fisheries revenue remains below potential as much of the catch is not processed into value-added products. He announced that the government aims to increase canned tuna production to 300 tonnes a day. 

Shiyam made these comments at the ceremony held yesterday to inaugurate the project to reclaim land and build the harbour at GDh. Fiyoari for the establishment of a fish processing factory and cold storage. 

The minister stated that of approximately 70,000 tonnes of fish exported from Maldives per year, only 15 percent is currently processed as canned tuna. 

The remaining 85 percent is frozen fish, which reduces the potential revenue, he said. 

The minister cited lack of capacity at the MIFCO Felivaru Factory as the reason for the low production of canned tuna, stating that the factory can only produce 50 tonnes of canned tuna per day. 

"Our aim is to increase this 50 tonnes which are canned, or value-added to 300 tonnes. The project here falls under these efforts," Shiyam said. 

The other most major challenge in the fisheries sector is the lack of resources to store fish, Shiyam said. 

Shiyam said that at present, storage capacity is about 9,500 tonnes, roughly two week's catch in peak season, forcing imports of raw fish regardless of market price. 

"They will also be monitoring how our storage capacity is being reached. So they then bring down the price in foreign markets. This results in MIFCO and such major companies having to be run at a loss," Shiyam explained. 

At the event, Minister of Construction, Housing and Infrastructure Dr. Abdulla Muththalib stated that while reclamation for the factory and storage has just started, construction of the facility will follow immediately after the ongoing project is completed. 

He noted that this would bring significant advancement to Fiyoari.