The overall performance of Maldives fisheries industry observed modest improvement in the second quarter of 2021.
Moreover, as per Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) in their Quarterly Economic Bulletin (QEB), the industry had observed growth in light of increased fish purchases made by processing companies.
Furthermore, the volume of fish exported to foreign countries observed an increment during the review quarter.
As such, MMA reports the total fish purchases had increased by 35%, which translates to 16,221.7 metric tons – owing predominantly due to 89% increase in the purchase of skipjack tuna.
However, purchases of yellowfin tuna marked a decline of 61% in the review quarter, while state-owned Maldives Industrial Fisheries Company’s (MIFCO) decision to drop fixed rate of fish purchases resulted in a further decline in the prices from the fish value.
Moreover, purchase price of skipjack tuna dropped to MVR14.00 per kilogram in the review quarter compared to MVR18.00 per kilogram during Q2-2020.
On the other hand, price of iced skipjack tuna dropped to MVR16.00 per kilogram in Q2-2021 from MVR20.00 per kilogram in the corresponding quarter of 2020.
Meanwhile, yellowfin tuna prices saw an increment of MVR89.6 per kilogram in Q2-2021 compared to MVR63.2 per kilogram during Q2-2020.
Furthermore, the volume of fish exports increased to 21,758.2 metric tons from 13,744.7 metric tons recorded in Q2-2020, owing to the surge in the volume of fish exports majorly from the growth of frozen skipjack tuna by 125% due existing global demand.