Dr. Hussain Rasheed, Maldivian minister of state for fisheries and agriculture has taken over the role of chairman for the International Pole & Line Foundation (IPNLF).
Rasheed succeeds Adnan Ali and will remain in the role for the next three years.
Rasheed recently spoke out on the Maldives’ pole-and-line skipjack tuna fishery achieving Marine Stewardship Council certification.
“The Foundation, which has worked very closely with the Maldivian pole-and-line industry, is delighted the endeavors of the fishery’s stakeholders have been rewarded with MSC-certification. From the outset, we firmly believed that the Maldivian fishing industry would benefit greatly if it could secure this internationally recognized gold standard for wild fisheries,” said Rasheed.
“The demand for pole-and-line tuna is increasing all over the world, but in Europe, where the MSC eco-label is most highly regarded, it is growing at a phenomenal rate. Consumers everywhere can now enjoy Maldives’ pole-and-line and know that it comes fro a fishery that has been confirmed and certified as sustainable. As the new chairman of the IPNLF, I look forward to helping other pole-and-line fisheries achieve similar success.”
IPNLF is also working with Indonesia’s pole-and-line industry to maximize the value of its fishery. Like the Maldives, Indonesia has always been a pole-and-line tuna producing country, but interest in this traditional catching method has decreased over the last decade in favor of purse seine fishing because of the larger volumes of fish that are caught.
