Maldivian fishing depends on British appetite for fish, claims Telegraph

Britain is “essential” to the Maldivian economy, claims an article on the country’s fishing industry published in the Telegraph.

Following a day in the life of a Maldivian fishing vessel, the article does not refer to the government’s recent deliberations over whether to permit environmentally damaging long-line fishing methods in order to make the industry more competitive.

“The appetite for fresh tuna in Western countries has encouraged fishermen to hunt using hi-tech methods that are not permitted in the Maldives,” the article notes.

Journalist Rose Prince travelled to the Maldives with Paul Willgoss, the technical director of UK retailer Marks & Spencer.

“The Maldives have an opportunity to become iconic in the way they manage their fishing,” Willgoss told Prince. “It is up to us to help them increase their returns and take the earnings back to the people of these islands.”

Marks & Spencer imports 700 tons of yellow fin from the Maldives each year, all of it stamped ‘pole-and-line’.