MIFCO has said that the purchase price of fish has not been revised because the market price of fish has not changed significantly across the globe.

MIFCO said that since the price revision, there has been a sharp decline in fish procurement and even though the global fish prices have come down since that day, MIFCO has tried to keep the purchase price from falling below MVR 16 per kg.

MIFCO said that the company is currently trying to procure quality fish from fishermen at a reasonable price until the global market prices rise again.

This year, MIFCO's fish procurement has dropped by 42 percent compared to the same period last year. While the country's catch has declined significantly these days, the number of frozen marine fish shipments has come down drastically as well.

MIFCO said that if the price of raw fish falls in the international market in the near future, it will have no option but to reduce the purchase price of fish. Therefore, the best course of action at this stage is to wait till we see a positive change in fish prices in the international market without reducing the price of fish, MIFCO said in a statement.

This year, there has been a decline in the number of catches that haven't gone down in the last few years. So far this year, MIFCO has procured only 26,000 tonnes of fish. On an average, MIFCO procures 67,000 tonnes of fish a year, and last year was a record year with a procurement of 72,000 tonnes of fish.

MIFCO said the company is doing everything it can right now to encourage fishermen to take up fishing due to this situation this year. This includes providing oil and ice on credit and paying the dues owed to fishermen.