Fisheries minister Dr. Mohamed Shainee says illegal fishing in the Maldivian waters by foreign vessels has greatly been controlled.
The minister said this in response to a question posed by a reporter during a press briefing at the President’s Office on Thursday.
He said the issue has been controlled to a large extent as government is giving high priority to encourage local fishing vessels to travel farther out to the border of the Special Economic Zone, which prevents foreign vessels from fishing inside the zone.
“I wouldn’t say that occasionally a foreign vessel won’t enter. But to our knowledge it doesn’t happen,” he said, adding that government has not issued fishing license to any foreign vessels and therefore it is only the local vessels fishing in the Maldivian waters.
The fisheries minister said the Maldivian coast guard, with the assistance of the Indian coast guard, is doing an excellent job at maintaining the country’s maritime security.
He said presence of fishing vessels outside the SEZ has been a major complaint, but it is not something that the Maldivian government alone can stop. However, he said work is being carried out with the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission to solve such issues at a regional level. He added that a recent government-initiated international resolution also outlines how illegal fishing vessels should be dealt with.