PNC-dominant Parliament rejects emergency motion against longline fisheries

An emergency motion submitted on Monday by the main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) expressing concern over the government’s plans to reopen longline fisheries has been rejected by the Parliament, in which the main ruling People’s National Congress (PNC) holds a supermajority.

The Fisheries Ministry drafted regulations for yellowfin tuna longline fisheries and opened it for public comment earlier this month. The draft regulation also includes provisions for the management of bycatch species such as sharks. While targeted shark fishing remains prohibited, the regulation allows for non-targeted bycatch species, including sharks, caught in longline fishing to be landed and processed in specially licensed facilities.

The MDP, which banned longline fisheries during its administration in 2019, along with multiple fisheries, tourism and environmental groups, have expressed concern over the incumbent administration’s plan to reopen longline fisheries.

MDP lawmaker Mauroof Zakir, who represents the Kendhoo constituency, submitted an emergency motion over the issue on Monday morning.

However, the motion was rejected with a majority vote of 47-11, with one abstaining.

In his motion, Mauroof noted that previous Maldivian administrations had also attempted to reopen longline fisheries, but ultimately chose to keep the ban in place because the damage it would cause to the Maldivian fisheries industry – which practices pole and line fishing – recognized globally as the most sustainable method of fishing – far outweighs any potential benefits of longline fisheries.

Mauroof said that reopening longline fisheries would not only impact the fisheries industry, but also the tourism industry, which is the country’s main economic driver.

He noted the concerns being raised by fisheries and tourism stakeholders and environmental advocates, and said that reopening yellowfin tuna longline fisheries was against the will of the people.

MDP demanded that the cabinet reverse its decision to reopen longline fisheries.

“We therefore ask that the government reverse its decision to reopen longline fisheries,” he said.

Maldives opened yellowfin tune longline fisheries in 2012. But the practice was banned by the MDP administration in 2019.

In a post on X on Saturday, MDP’s chairperson Fayyaz Ismail, the country’s former economic minister, said the MDP administration banned longline fisheries because it we recognized the benefits of sustainable fisheries to the entire fisheries industry of Maldives and its continuity over any possible benefits of longline fisheries.

“The current governments’ inability to understand the issues at hand and the destructive policies they continue to come up for the benefit of a few individual beneficiaries is ensuring a fast trajectory towards the complete destruction of the economic gains made during the last decade,” he said.

Fayyaz accused the PNC administration of adopting an “illogical ad hoc way” of dealing with the current financial situation.

He said that unless the government immediately reverses its policies, the Maldives at risk of an alarming loss of confidence in the economy by investors, businesses and the public at large.

MDP’s leader Abdulla Shahid, who served as the country’s foreign minister during the last administration, said he was shocked by the government’s decision to abandon one of the key features of the Maldivian fisheries industry – sustainability.

He called the decision “reckless” and one which will reverse the gains made during the MDP administration.

“It endangers the tourism industry and our international reputation and leadership. The high bycatch, including of endangered species which are critical to our marine ecosystem, will also harm our prospects of bolstering trade,” he said. “I urge the Government of Maldives to immediately reverse this ill-considered decision and work in the best interests of the people.”

The Bodu Kanneli Masveringe Union (BKMU) – a union of yellowfin tuna fishermen in the Maldives – has also expressed opposition to the plan.

The group said that reopening longline fisheries will allow large foreign fisheries companies to dominate the sector and edge out local fishermen.