A commercial fishing crew has had to dump over a ton of catch, which began to decay, as they waited for their total haul to be weighed.

The crew, from Gan island in southern Laamu atoll, had caught the fish on Monday. The captain of this crew, who wished to comment only under the condition of anonymity, said that they were forced to do so by the state’s ‘hostile and adverse regulations’.

The crew’s primary concerns involve not being immediately paid once their haul is weighed and not being given ice to keep it fresh as they wait. They say that not receiving payment immediately, especially for large amounts of fish, impacts their ability to find other means to keep haul fresh.

The embattled Maldives Industrial Fisheries Company (MIFCO) says that they have raised their capacity to weigh from 400 to 720 tons and their capacity to store hauls on ice from 216 to 612 tons.

MIFCO attested that there has been a distinctive rise in haul from the south. The company said they have weighed about 1,800 tons in the last three days alone, at stark variance from the 150 tons weighed over the last six months.  

This unusual boom in the south has led to commercial boats operating there, who ordinarily sell their haul to MIFCO itself and receive payment there, lining up at their facilities. 10 vessels were kept overnight at Kooddoo island on Sunday.

MIFCO has eight ice plants in the southern atolls alone and 200 tons of ice is provided to vessels daily.