No fish to catch in South Maldives

According to Haveeru Online, an unusual fish drought being experienced throughout the country lately could likely be caused by climate change- fishermen from southern atolls where fishing had been good for years have said.

Fisherman are facing hard times and one fisherman said they can hardly make Rf 4000 per month.

A fisherman in Fuvahmulah, said that it was better to not go fishing these days. "How can we go fishing? There's no fish to catch. It's better to stay at home than go out every day and burn expensive oil in a fruitless search."

The poor fishing is also reflected in the price of fish at the fish markets, where fish prices have skyrocketed. This has led to difficulties for locals who depend on fish as a source of daily food.

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in a report said that the tsunami waves of December 26 completely smashed the fisheries sector in many countries of the Indian Ocean.

Since Maldives accounts tor 22 per cent of the fish catch in the Indian Ocean according to our fisheries minister's address, what actions have our government taken to help the fishermen to ride through the difficult times and if any help was offered is it sufficient?

According to Fisheries Ministry, fisheries industry development in Maldives is hindered by the high costs of providing support infrastructure due to the wide dispersal of the country’s population.

If the what the ministry is saying here is that they are unable to provide support services to all the islands, resulting incidents like Dhidhoo fisherman having to dump their catch into the atoll office- that is not an acceptable reason.

The fisheries ministry must make it possible to provide all the necessary support services to the fisherman even by opening up the fisheries sector more to the private sector.

Since majority of our people on the islands depend on fishing for their livelihood, every possible action has to be taken to help the fishermen.

Scientists have been warning us that global warming has an effect on world fisheries and in some parts of the world, fish stock are rapidly depleting because of over exploitation.

It is time for Maldivian politicians to stop political wrangling and take on a serious attitude to tackle the nation's problems.