BLUEPEACE blog

A controversial plan to permit longline fishing in the Maldives has shocked environmentalists and concerned citizens. While the government tries to justify the plan saying it will increase the fish catch and provide a higher income for the fishermen, the plan would have grave implications on the environment and the tuna fishery in the Maldives.

For centuries, successive generations of Maldivian fishermen have practiced the traditional pole and line fishery, which has been hailed as an environment-friendly method. While the Maldivian fishermen abandoned sails on their boats in favour of mechanization, and while the size of the fishing boats has increased dramatically over the past two decades, pole and line fishery has remained the hallmark feature of a unique fishing culture.

The government’s plan to introduce longline fishing to the Maldives could grossly change the landscape of tuna fishery in the Maldives. Longline fishery is criticized worldwide for the merciless death of species such as sharks, turtles and seabirds, all caught unwanted as by-catch. It is ironic that this method of fishery, which could lead to the death of hundreds of sharks in the Maldivian waters, is to be introduced just as the Maldives is about to impose a ban of shark fishery in the country.

Pelagic longline fishery for tuna has its own environmental side-effects, especially in terms of unwanted catch of sharks and turtles.

“We are implementing a total ban and then starting something that is shark fishing by another name,” Ali Rilwan, the Executive Director of Bluepeace, told the local online newspaper Minivan News.

“And the larger problem is how we will be perceived; our fish export is marketed abroad as one that is caught through a dolphin and environmentally friendly method,” Rilwan said.

The environment-friendly label that the Maldivian exporters have so proudly displayed on their fish products would lose its status as the longline becomes a widespread fishing method in the country. The fears Bluepeace has on how longline fishery could destroy the reputation of Maldives seem to be shared by other environmental organisations. Bite Back, a marine conservation group from UK, has told Minivan News that there is a real possibility of a UK boycott of tuna products from the Maldives caught through longline.

Across Europe and in the developed countries, consumers are becoming more conscious about their spending habits, the food they eat and the ecological costs involved in the food production. Retailers and department stores are offering products that cater to this new trend.

Marks & Spencer, a global retail giant, and one of the major buyers of Maldivian tuna, announced last year it would no longer buy tuna that is not caught by pole and line, Minivan News reported.

The government of Maldives says it is introducing longline to compensate for the steady decline of fish catch during the past few years. It argues that the big fishing boats used in the Maldives are unfeasible for traditional pole and line fishing. Instead of keeping the boats idle and moored, it could take to the seas again through longline fishery, argues the government.

However, one of the reasons why the larger boats are unable to spend more days on the sea and catch large quantities of fish is the limited supply of ice. There are no adequate mechanisms available for fishermen to spend more days out on the sea without the fish getting decayed. Furthermore, a small catch is not economically feasible because the boat owners have to repay huge amounts to the commercial banks for the loans they obtained to build the boats. Without any development banks in the Maldives, the boat owners have to go for costly loans with high interest rates from the few commercial banks in the Maldives. A small fish catch is not attractive when they have to repay the huge loans.

The size of fishing boats has increased significantly over the past few decades. At first this was thought to be a positive trend, increasing the efficiency of the fishing industry. However, today most of the fishing boats are moored when the fish catch is low. In addition, people demand larger harbours to accommodate these larger fishing vessels. Constructing ‘cut and paste’ harbours in islands without doing proper Environmental Impact Assessments are one of the reasons why the Maldives is experiencing severe beach erosion.

Modifying the existing fishing vessels with sails, and frequent use of sails with engines could reduce operational costs and carbon footprint of fisheries. (Image digitally altered)

The government’s controversial plan to send the larger fishing boats back to the high seas with longline is flawed in many aspects. The plan has severe economic and social implications too. For centuries Maldivian fishermen have been owners of the industry. The fish catch or the income obtained from the catch was divided among the boat owners and fishermen. The fishermen were recognised as important stakeholders and the income from the fishery was distributed more equitably than any other profession in the country.

The government’s longline plan would make the fishermen employees in the fishing industry. Longline fishing would be dominated by a few wealthy and large companies. Even the large boats currently used for pole and line fishery would not be able to compete with much larger boats the big companies would use. If a transshipment port in Ihavandhippolhu could hypothetically turn the fishermen into employees, the longline fishery could turn them into employees much easily. The fishery could also be dominated by foreign companies using their puppet or proxy Maldivian companies.

Longline fishery would ruin the reputation of the Maldives as a country practicing environment-friendly fishery and tarnish its image abroad. The publicity gained through the country’s cabinet having a meeting underwater last year could all be gone just like bubbles released by a scuba diver.

Local divers have raised concerns about a whale shark research programme being conducted in the Maldives by a UK charity. The divers say tagging of whale sharks in a Marine Protected Area near Maamigili island in South Ari Atoll – and an aggregation site for whale sharks – is causing whale sharks to abandon the area.

A local diver with 10 years experience of diving in the area told Bluepeace that whale sharks were spotted throughout the year at the site, but are hardly seen anymore because of the tagging.

The charity named ‘Maldives Whale Shark Research Programme’ (MWSRP) has been conducting research in the Maldives since 2006. According to the programme’s website the tagging project was launched in 2008.

MWSRP, on the other hand, has raised concerns about unregulated diving boats visiting the Marine Protected Area. In the programme’s website MWSRP wrote on 3 January 2010 that whale sharks are back in the South Ari Atoll but were facing threats from unregulated tourism.

“Unfortunately the reef is also busier than ever with the unregulated tourism that flocks to the whale shark ‘Hotspot’. Since the recent designation of the area as the largest MPA in the Maldives, nothing has changed, in fact it has inevitably become more busy, increasing habitat disturbance as a major threat to the animals. The tour industry have not been made aware of the rules or regulations within the MPA and boats (sometimes 10 at a time) consistently converge on any shark that is spotted. So the madness is set to continue until such times as the government makes the necessary communications with the stakeholders.”

The research team, which is receiving assistance from the tourist resort Conrad Maldives Rangali Island, also takes tourists staying at the resort to the whale shark aggregation site, according to Easier Travel.

“The Conrad Maldives Rangali Island will once again provide support by giving the team accommodation on a local island, supplies, as well as diving equipment and the use of their boats. Guests at the resort will also be able to take part in the research by accompanying the team on their excursions to study the whale sharks, taking samples and measurements and assisting the team with their conservation work.”

MWSRP’s website says it has been in touch with the government of the Maldives and the local community to develop the Marine Protected Area.

“The year 2009 has seen the successful development of South Ari Atoll’s MPA, which is on its way to becoming the first collaboratively managed and regulated, revenue generating MPA in the Maldives, ensuring the local community benefits from their natural resources whilst making tourism more sustainable. Resorts are already committing to sponsoring the initiative following consultations with the MWSRP.”

Local divers are having a different opinion. They believe the tagging of whale sharks is driving the sharks away. They also raise questions about the methodology used in tagging and claim the use of spear guns by the research team is harming the whale sharks. In addition, local divers raise their concern that the authorities are not regulating the research.

A number of divers working on liveaboards, which take foreign tourists to the whale shark aggregation site, are disappointed with the research team conducting the research at the site during the peak tourist season. They claim that it is detrimental to their business as most of their clients come to the Maldives with the hope of spotting whale sharks. The peak tourist season also coincides with the arrival of North-east monsoon which brings more plankton to the area and attracts whale sharks. However, divers claim the number of whale sharks spotted in the area is significantly less this season. One prominent diver told Bluepeace that divers were not opposed to research in general, but were not happy with the research being carried out inside the Marine Protected Area.

Divers Association of Maldives is planning to raise the concerns of Maldivian divers with the relevant government authorities. Zoona Naseem, the President of DAM, told Bluepeace that the organisation was not opposed to whale shark research but their main concerns were the methodology used in tagging; lack of government regulation and monitoring of the research; and the concerns being raised by the divers that the number of whale sharks frequenting the Marine Protected Area is decreasing.

Maldivian divers also question whether the communities in South Ari Atoll have received any benefits from the research programme. They say MWSRP has not consulted the divers in the area and does not involve Maldivians in the research.

Today is World Water Day. Following an initiative at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development at Rio de Janeiro in 1992, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution to mark March 22 of each year as the World Day for Water. The UN is marking International Decade for Action: “Water for Life” 2005-2015, calling for global action on water and water-related issues, aiming to reduce poverty and increase access to better health and sanitation.

A child stands near a water tap used for collecting water in a village in Nepal. The UN is marking 2005-2015 as Water for Life decade.

Bluepeace is concerned that, as we mark the Water Day, several islands of Maldives are plagued with a shortage of drinking water, as reported by Minivan News.

“I am very upset with the government because we need water,” said 42-year old Jameela Aboobakuru from Gaafaru. “We ran out of water, so we borrowed water from our brother. When he ran out of water we started buying bottled water imported from Male’.”

She said her 12-member family was spending US$22 a day to buy bottled water for drinking and cooking; their daily income, she added, was only US$26.

On another island, Gulhi, Ahmed Ibrahim, the island office assistant director, said islanders had been importing bottles water from the capital as well as in jerry cans.

“They are getting water somehow,” he said, “but the island needs a permanent solution to this problem like piped desalinated water.”

After the tsunami of December 2004, several aid organizations provided islands with plastic water tanks. In addition, UNICEF provided 23 desalination plants, each costing US $ 70,000 to islands affected by the tsunami. Despite community water tanks found in abundance in islands, there is no national mechanism to prepare for a dry spell or a shortage of drinking water. Some desalination plants donated to islands by aid agencies are not being used or are out of order. Bluepeace calls for a national policy and mechanism to deal with such a crisis and ensure that the people have access to safe drinking water throughout the year.

Bluepeace had in the past raised the issue of groundwater contamination, caused in most cases by untreated sewage seeping into the groundwater. This is a problem in the capital Male’ — where approximately one-third of the population lives — because of the poor design of the sewerage system. In Male’, contaminated groundwater is used by some households for washing dishes and clothes, while a few households use groundwater for bathing as piped desalinated water is too expensive. The use of septic tanks and primitive sewerage systems in other islands cause the effluent to sink into the ground, leading to contamination of the groundwater. Unlike Malé, in the other islands, majority of the households use groundwater for washing clothes, dishes and for bathing, as piped desalinated water is not available. When rainwater is depleted, during dry spells, the people drink groundwater in several islands. In fact, 25% of the people of the Maldives depend on groundwater for drinking according to State of the Environment Report 2002.

Mangroves suck up more carbon dioxide per unit area than sea phytoplankton, a key factor in global warming. Mangroves are not adequately protected in the Maldives.

On World Water Day, Bluepeace reiterates its call for preservation of freshwater ecosystems and mangroves in the Maldives. Such ecosystems are home to a number of species of plants and organisms and are important to preserve biodiversity. As Maldives embarks on a bold and ambitious plan to be carbon-neutral within 10 years, the role of mangroves in absorbing carbon dioxide should not be overlooked. Mangroves in the Maldives also protect the coastlines from erosion, and absorbed the lethal power of the tsunami in 2004, acting as a layer of protection. Atoll mangroves in the Maldives are threatened by development projects, reclamation plans, garbage disposal and introduction of alien species, among other issues.

On World Water Day, the government, media, civil society organisations, aid agencies, and other stakeholders should be thinking of ways to collaborate during the Water for Life Decade to make water a resource for poverty reduction, improving healthcare and preservation of our precious environment.