A Q&A with Maldives High Commissioner Dr Farah Faizal.
Many great things are said about the Maldives fisheries sector, what is particularly prominent about it in your view and how engrained are sustainability practices in the Maldives?
I’m proud to say that the Maldives is home to the world’s most sustainable tuna fisheries, as we have preserved centuries-old traditional fishing methods, such as pole-and-line fishing and handline fishing. Our sustainable fishing techniques ensure that no harm is done to the marine fauna and flora. Each tuna is caught one by one. This is a technique handed down from father to son for over hundreds of years.
Maldivians truly constitute a fishing community at heart, and in most islands, fishing sustains entire populations, where each fisherman receives an equal share of the total catch of the day. We were also the first Indian Ocean tuna fishery to receive the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification, which points to our high marine and ecological standards. We also have extensive domestic regulation to protect our marine ecosystem, prohibiting any form of net fishing commercially, purse seining, trawl net fishing and the use of explosives. Although we are a small country, we do not lease our Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) to foreign fishing vessels. We also offer all secondary students in the Maldives, a subject called Marine Science which teaches them all about our marine environment emphasising on its preservation. The Maldives is also a Co-Champion along with Kiribati of the Commonwealth Blue Charter Action Group on Sustainable Coastal Fisheries.
What are your immediate challenges with regards to fishing?
Despite the highly sustainable nature of the Maldivian fisheries sector, we are currently the only Commonwealth SIDS on which the UK imposes a 20% tariff on tuna products.
We have been having many meetings with various members of the UK government, House of Commons and House of Lords, NGOs working on sustainability and other stakeholders to change that. Everyone who I have spoken to has called it “an anomaly” but then there is little incentive to take it further, often justified as resulting from a lack of resources or that they are currently occupied with several larger trading nations. We understand this but simultaneously we believe that countries who are doing the right thing and using sustainable methods should be rewarded, not penalised. A drop in the UK’s tariff would directly benefit Maldivian fishermen and have a valuable impact on the economy.
I truly hope that the constant and irreproachable sustainability standards used in the Maldives for generations encourages the UK to reconsider its tariff policy with the Maldives by signing an Economic Partnership Agreement and rewarding sustainable fishing methods. We are not looking for a complicated trade agreement. We just wish to be treated in the same way as other Commonwealth SIDS, considering our strong commitment to sustainability.
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