MIFCO adds 3 boats to increase fish purchase capacity

Maldives Industrial Fisheries Company (MIFCO) has purchased three additional boats to its fleet in order to increase fish purchase capacity in time for the peak fishing season.

These three new boats together have a capacity of storing 240 tons of fish.

Speaking about this with Sun, the Managing Director of MIFCO Ismail Fauzee is the areas that catch the highest number of fish, where it is most needed.

He added that these boats will be mobile and can be changed to areas that have a higher catch.

Noting that improving the facilities of MIFCO was a priority for President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, Fauzee added that this new addition to the mobile fleet was part of this.

“In addition to this, are looking into the expansion of the mobile fleet to the south.”

Additionally, Fauzee said that currently registration process of the boats was ongoing, and once that is completed, they will head to Maldives. However, he said that it is uncertain when the boats will reach Maldives.

Prior to this, two new boats were purchased for MIFOC, and are currently in use. With this, currently there are a total of 12 boats operational in the mobile fleet.

Being forced to discard their catch after being unable to sell is a huge concern for fishermen of Maldives. They say that because of this they are unable to get the full cost of their hard work.

In September of this year also, fishermen in the south were unable to sell their fish during peak fishing days.