By Natalia Freitas for Atuna.com
In response to a recent motion presented to the parliament, a Parliamentary Committee was formed in the Maldives to compile a report on the difficulties faced by fishermen and on solutions to improve the current situation.
The proponent of the motion, Mr. Mausoon Abdulla, explained the main drivers that lead to the proposal and refuted the accusations of having a political agenda when addressing the issue.
Atuna.com: The Maldivian Fisheries Department is claiming that you based your motion on incorrect data. How do you respond to that?
Abdulla: This case is not particularly about prices. It’s about protecting the tuna fishing industry, that’s the bottom line of the motion. The local government, before they came to power, made a lot of promises to the fishermen. They said that they would buy tuna at Rf4 per kilo. The current income from tuna fishing is lower than fishermen expenses; therefore, they cannot afford to keep performing this activity. However, thinking only about how much is should be per kilo is focusing on a micro-aspect of the problem.
What would be the main problem affecting the Maldivian tuna industry then?
I believe that the big loans taken by the fishermen to finance their boats could be a bigger issue. The government should do something about this. We have to find out what are the expenses of these fishermen, since they don’t operate with great cash flow and from time to time don’t even have the money to pay for fuel, for example. That limits their trips’ length. I think we should be able to talk to the government and find an appropriate solution.
How will the Committee do that?
The Committee has decided to fully understand the situation first, not to just focus on how much they paid for the fish. The idea is that fishermen should be able to perform their activities and be competitive, otherwise they cannot fish any longer. Once my motion passed in the parliament, and the Committee was formed, it was proposed to produce a report with possible solutions for this situation, actions that need to be taken.
Is there a deadline for that?
We want to make sure this is done as soon as possible, but we have three major areas to address: government authorities; the fish exporters, fish buyers; and the fishermen, the boat owners. We have to talk with banks and other lending agencies as well. Once this report comes out it will give us the real extent of the problem and ways to solve it. We must sustain the fish industry and as a consequence, our own economy.
The Maldivian Fisheries Ministry also claimed that you’re basing your motion on political reasons, why do you think he said that?
Right, the media called me saying that the motion and our figures are misleading. Look, don’t be convinced by this. As I said in the motion, it’s a national problem, a serious problem. I said to the media to simply look at the fishermen situation, they cannot cover their own expenses to go out there fishing. That was my biggest concern when I raised the motion. People are going to alternative jobs, which make our fishing industry weaker. The government and all the other spheres related to the fishing industry should get involved. I didn’t mean to blame someone for it, it’s a national problem and we need to find the solution all together.