President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu has highlighted that the pole-and-line fishing that Maldivians have been practicing since ancient times is a global model for sustainability.

In connection with World Tuna Day, being celebrated internationally, the president took to social media platform ‘X’.

In the post, the president extended World Tuna Day greetings to all those who work day and night to sustain the fishing industry.

The president said that the Maldives practices the cleanest, most beautiful, and most marine life-friendly fishing in the world, and when looking at the environmentally friendly pole-and-line fishing that Maldivians have been practicing since ancient times, such fishing is still practiced most extensively in the Maldives today. However, the president said that while the Maldives does not have the power to sell and set prices for fish caught by pole-and-line fishing in the global market yet, competing countries are reaping the benefits of this.

Despite this, the president said that the government is working hard to sustain the fishing industry, which Maldivians are proud of. In this regard, he said that it is the government's goal to increase the capacity to store 25,000 tons of fish at once in the Maldives by the end of his current five-year term, god willing. The president said that the funds needed to implement these projects have now been secured, and the practical work on some projects is also underway.

In addition to this, the president stated that a special loan program was carried out last year in collaboration with the SME Development Financing Corporation, aimed at developing reef fishing and sports fishing to diversify and further expand the fishing industry. The president also said that under this MVR 30 million program, 62 parties have been designated so far, and loan disbursement has begun.

The president also said that the government is working to pave the way for the use of modern technological resources in fishing. The president also said that solid work is being done academically to develop the fishing sector as an industry and to train the people needed for the industry.

World Tuna Day is celebrated on May 2. The main purpose of celebrating such a day at the international level is to work towards finding a solution to the declining tuna population due to the unusually high fishing in the world's oceans.