Common are tuna, groupers, dolphin fish, barracuda, rainbow runner, trevally and squirrelfish and many more.

Aside from being of essential importance to the economy, fishing is also a popular recreational activity in the Maldives, not only among locals but by tourists.

Formerly, Maldives shipped 90 percent of its fishing catch of tuna in dried form to Sri Lanka.

Harbour and refrigeration facilities have been improved, leading to a fourfold increase in earnings from canned fish between 1983 and 1985.

[6] Further construction of fisheries refrigeration installations and related facilities such as collector vessels were underway in 1994, with funding both from Japan and the World Bank.

[7] Although the Maldives were in the direct path of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, little permanent damage resulted to the coral beds and fishing grounds.

However fisheries continue to provide an important source of income for about 20 percent of the population, with about 22,000 individuals involved in full-time fishing activities.

[3] The following table shows the total volume of aquatic species caught in the Maldives, as reported by the FAO,[4] for all commercial, industrial, recreational and subsistence purposes.

[2] The FAO estimated in 1992 that a sustainable yield of about 30,000 tonnes per year was possible for commercial reef fish.

Outside the atolls, the deep reef slopes support some high value species, but their total potential yield is relatively small.

[11] Other resources include aquarium fish, and non invertebrates, such as sea cucumber, lobster, giant clam and black coral.

The grouper fishery has also come under pressure due to demand from local tourism and international markets.

The grouper fishery has been sustainable so far, but there is very little potential for expansion under current practices, and a strict management regime is required.

In the absence of adequate controls and monitoring, it is difficult to estimate how many people or areas are engaged in exploiting red coral.

[9] Other coastal resources such as cowrie and cuttlefish play a nominal role, and can be sustainably exploited at the present level.

However, resources that can be cultured such as giant clams, sea cucumber, some species of aquarium fish, and turtles, have considerable potential.

With recent further improvements in fishing gear and methods, it appears that the catch levels may be close to the maximum sustainable yield.

The islands in the Maldives are too small to have inland fisheries, nor are there land based aquaculture activities at present.

However, various forms of mariculture are being experimentally trialled, such as the culture of pearls, giant clams, spiny lobsters, bêche-de-mer and grouper.

Nonetheless, culture appears promising given the extensive reef areas which can provide suitable habitats.

[5] Fish is an integral part of the Maldivian diet and it is a common sight to see office workers in formal white shirts and ties on bicycles after work taking skipjack home to eat.

[5] The canning process typically takes four days, and the plant has the benefits of modern technology and even a laboratory for research and quality control.

[5] The islands of the Maldives have an extensive fleet of small fishing boats, built domestically, each of which can carry about eight to twelve persons.

This boat building is a traditional craft in the Maldives, and young apprentices are still trained by skilled craftsmen.

Examples are increasing risks of spills from oil tankers, and industrial discharges from countries to the north, such as organochlorine residues such as DDT, and heavy metals such as mercury, cadmium, lead, and arsenic.

[9] There has been a loss of coastal habitats associated with dredging harbours, reclamation, and the mining of coral and sand for construction.

[16] The FAO Bay of Bengal Programme is exploring the reef and tuna fish, and facilitating a fisheries management system.