Maldives Industrial Fisheries Company (MIFCO) has decided to buy more than the set amount of fish from the southern atolls due to the remarkable improvement in fishing in the region.

Fishermen from Gaaf Alif atoll told RaajjeMV that all boats that went fishing on Saturday had caught an average of 15 to 20 tonnes of fish each with a record 43-tonne being caught by a boat from Faresmaathodaa, resulting in fishermen catching 700 tonnes of fish on that day.

MIFCO stated that while an average of 150 tonnes of fish were weighed in the last six months, 600 tonnes were weighed in the last three days alone.

In a press release, MIFCO said that it has sent a ship to increase the capacity of weighing in the south, and is searching for a carrier ship to increase capacity in GA Kooddoo.

MIFCO also said that ice plants in the southern atolls are now working 24 hours to solve the ice shortage.

This comes after fishermen complained of a lack of weighing and shortage of ice as fishing improved.

MIFCO said it has increased buying by 400 to 720 tonnes, fish freezing capacity by 216 to 612 tonnes, and ice generation by 355 to 630 tonnes since 2014.