Maldives Industrial Fisheries Company (MIFCO) has stated that the purchase and export of fish saw an increase this year, compared to the previous year. 

The company made the announcement after a Maldivian news outlet reported that fish exports had fallen to a record low. Stating that it is definitely false news and export statistics are subject to sudden changes from month to month, MIFCO stated that it is irresponsible to make misleading headlines based on one month’s statistics.

MIFCO shared its figures for last year and this year to show that its fish exports have not declined. 

The figures show that 31,132 metric tonnes of frozen fish were exported till August last year as against 38,249 metric tonnes during the same period this year.

Additionally, 141,939 canned cases and 980 metric tonnes of fish meal were exported till August last year as against 174,812 canned cases and 1,191 metric tonnes of fish meal during the same period this year.

In addition to the fish exported, MIFCO also shared the details of the fish purchased by the company.

While the company purchased 35,643 metric tonnes of fish till August last year, by August 2023, they purchased 44,647 metric tonnes of fish. That is MVR 572,355,325 worth of fish by August 2022 and MVR 740،843،677 worth of fish by August 2023. 

The government has now increased the purchase price of fish to MVR 25 per kg.