Maldives Industrial Fisheries Company Limited (MIFCO) has paid more than MVR 16 million to fishermen so far this month for fish purchased by the company.

Statistics released by MIFCO show that MVR 251,521 was deposited on Friday to fishing vessels for fish weighed on 13 May.

In total, MVR 16.6 million has been paid to fishing vessels between 1 May and 15 May.

Of the total amount, MVR 16.06 million was paid for skipjack tuna catches, while MVR 26,340 was paid for yellowfin tuna weighing more than 10 kilograms. In addition, MVR 468,850 was paid for yellowfin tuna weighing more than 15 kilograms.

When the Administration assumed office, fishermen were owed around MVR 250 million by the previous Government. During the first year of the Administration, the outstanding payments were cleared and a mechanism was introduced to ensure fishermen receive payments within 48 hours.

The Government also introduced several measures in 2025 aimed at strengthening the fisheries sector. These included increasing the purchase price of fish bought by MIFCO to MVR 16 per kilogram and reducing the price of fuel sold to fishermen to MVR 13 per litre.

MIFCO also began purchasing yellowfin tuna earlier this year.

The company first started weighing yellowfin tuna above 15 kilograms on 11 January. Later, from 21 January onwards, MIFCO expanded the programme to include yellowfin tuna weighing between 10 and 15 kilograms.