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The Maldives tuna fishery comprises of four main components; pole-and-line, handline, longline and troll line. In terms of total landings, livebait pole-and-line is still the most important. The main target species is skipjack tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis) and yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares), but small amounts of juvenile bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus), (about 5-10%) is caught along with yellowfin tuna. Handline fishery is now well-established as a major component, which targets large yellowfin tuna (> 70 cm FL) from the surface (<10m). The longline fleet has been operational intermittently in the past with foreign licensed vessels operating in the past, with a domestic fleet being in operation from 2011, licensing of which has been suspended since July 2019. Troll fishery is minor and used to target primarily neritic species of kawakawa (Euthynnus affinis) and frigate tuna (Auxis thazard), but occasionally also caught skipjack and yellowfin tuna.
The pole-and-line and handline fleets operate within about 100 miles although historically, the fleet operated much closer, and conducted daily trips, returning to the home island after the trip. The Longline Regulation which came in force in 2011 restricted its operation from within 100 from the shore to protect the pole-and-line and handline operations
Maldives reported 134,300 t of tunas in 2019, comprising of skipjack, yellowfin, bigeye, frigate and kawakawa. Of these 66% (89,042 t) was skipjack tuna and 33% (44,700 t) was yellowfin tuna. The remaining constituted bigeye tuna, frigate and kawakawa. Pole-and-line fishery landed 99% of skipjack tuna in 2019, and was the second most important gear for yellowfin tunas, landing 38% (17,240 t) of all yellowfin tuna caught in 2019. Handline gear almost exclusively lands yellowfin tuna (26,932 t in 2019) which represented 99% of all species landed by the gear. Longline catch of tunas decreased by 41% from 2018, landing 564 t comprising of 479 t of yellowfin tuna and 83 t of bigeye tuna. Catch of other tunas and billfish were below 8 t in 2019.
Catches of skipjack registered a drop in 2019 relative to 2018, by about 11%. Recent catches have been of the order of 69,000 – 100,000 t, yet, substantially less than the catch recorded in 2006. Caches of yellowfin observed a general decline in the past five years. No specialized vessel is required for handline fishing hence many pole-and-line vessels now carry both sets of gears and switch target fishery and gear depending on fishing opportunities.
Maldives pole-and-line and handline tuna fishery have minimal impact on the ecosystem. Catch and interactions with Endangered, Threatened and Protected (ETP) species and other species of ecological importance is virtually non-existent. Shark bycatch and turtles are reported from the longline fishery, which has strict measures to report and release those that are caught. In addition, measures to mitigate bird entanglement in the longline gear are mandated by law. Logbooks for all the tuna fisheries have provisions to report catch and interactions of non-targeted and ETP species. Maldives Marine Research Institute currently conducts scientific observations of fishing trips in accordance with the relevant IOTC Conservation and Management Measures.
Collection of data from logbooks is now fully established. A revision to the Regulation enforced early in 2019 requires mandatory reporting of logbook before the catches are sold for processors and exporters. An electronic logbook is being trialled which has been rolled out by during December 2019. Full implementation of electronic logbook has been delayed due to travel restrictions imposed due to the current pandemic. A new vessel monitoring system is being procured which will replace the old VMS on the vessels. It is expected by the end of 2021 all licensed tuna fishing vessels will be equipped with the new VMS in accordance with Resolution 15/03 On establishing a vessel monitoring system (VMS).
A new fisheries act (14/2019) was enacted in 2019 and superseded the previous act of 5/87. The Act requires development and implementation of management plans for all commercial fisheries including those on tunas and tuna-like species. It is expected that management plans will strengthen monitoring and management of the fisheries.
A number of donor and local funded programs are being implemented to improve fishery and biological data collection, monitoring and management of the fisheries. The programs are geared towards improving national reporting and compliance to IOTC Conservation and Management Measures and towards understanding and minimising impacts of fisheries on the ecosystem
