Making more money with less fishing

An AP report reads, "At a time when a quarter of the world's fisheries are considered depleted, can commercial fishermen make more money by fishing less? A study published in the Friday edition of the journal Science says they can, with one condition.

They must be in a cooperative fishery, like those operating in New Zealand and Australia, where individual fishermen own a share of the total harvest _ known as individual transferable quotas _ rather than the competitive fisheries more common in the United States, where it is a race to catch the most fish.

The idea is that when there are more fish and no race to catch them, fishermen spend less on fuel and other costs chasing far and wide to fill their nets, and can concentrate on delivering a high-quality product to the dock, said lead author Quentin Grafton, research director at the Crawford School of Economics and Government at Australian National University."

Read more here.

In Maldives, tourism has grown significantly and currently accounts for 33% of GDP, a quarter of total employment and more than 60% of the Maldives' foreign exchange receipts.

Fisheries is the main activity outside of Male and the tourist islands. It employs 19% of the country’s labour force but accounts for only 6% of its GDP. Fisheries exports are mostly canned and fresh tuna, which is the second largest source of foreign exchange for the country.

Maldives needs to develop the fishing industry. Maldives has been graduated from LDC status by the United Nations in December 2004 to "become" a Developing Nation with a three-year grace period ending in November 2007. Since our economy is highly dependent on imports which will deplete our foreign exchange it is necessary to intensify our efforts on development of fisheries and our agriculture.

The cooperative fisheries is an interesting idea from which the Maldivian fisherman can benefit to improve their livelihood and alleviate poverty. The fisherman can form cooperative societies like many other developing countries. They can also set up their own marketing and distribution networks. Such cooperatives can undertake other income generating activities with financial support by the government, or foreign donor agencies where necessary.