The Maldivian tuna fishery is an indispensable component of Maldivian culture and heritage, contributing significantly to food security, livelihoods and the job market in the Maldives. The traditional Maldivian tuna fishery, which has been practiced over centuries, has for main target species; namely, skipjack tuna, yellowfin tuna, kawakawa and frigate tuna. The two main tuna fisheries practiced in the Maldives, the pole-and-line fishery and the handline fishery, are both highly dependent on the bait fishery which is carried out in and around coral reefs and lagoons. A number of smaller reef and pelagic fish species are used as live-bait in the tuna fishery. Bait species and amount tends to vary dependant on the type of fishery, the target species and the associated gear. For instance, the pole-and-line skipjack tuna fishery typically uses smaller species such as silver sprat and shorthead anchovy, while slightly larger species like bigeye scad and mackeral scad are more prominent in the handline yellowfin tuna fishery. Whereas species like fusiliers are used in both fisheries, depending on their size. Unlike what is practiced in most other countries, the bait fishing operation is carried out as a part of the broader tuna fishing trip.
Maldives tuna catches were around 30,000 tonnes in 1970, when species-segregated data for the most common species first became available.
The catches remained somewhat stable in the following years until around 1982, from which tuna catches began a steady climb until they peaked at more than 160,000 tonnes in 2006. This was followed by a period of decline, with catches in 2010 having declined as much as 53%. However, tuna catches has since been recovering and approximately 134,318 tonnes were reported in 2019 (Figure 3).
By volume, skipjack tuna and yellowfin tuna, respectively, are the two most important species in the Maldives tuna fisheries. Their average contributions to the total tuna catch comprised 66% and 33% respectively, in the recent five years (2015-2019). However, historical contribution of yellowfin tuna was much less in the national tuna landings. The increased proportion in the relatively recent history is accounted for by the handline yellowfin tuna fishery which exclusively targets large yellowfin tuna.
Of the oceanic tunas, bigeye tuna (loabodu kanneli) is caught in small quantities in the pole-and-line fishery, along with yellowfin tuna from mixed schools. Due to its small proportion in the catch and similarity in appearance to yellowfin tuna in the size ranges caught in the pole-and-line fishery, bigeye tuna was not initially segregated from yellowfin tuna in the fishery and data collection system. Until 2013, Maldives bigeye tuna catch was estimated based on proportions derived from sampling. For the period of 2015-2019, bigeye tuna comprised an average of about 1% of all tuna landed .
Of the coastal or neritic tunas found in the Indian Ocean, frigate tuna and kawakawa are most common in the Maldivian tuna catches. Majority of the neritic tuna catches are taken by the pole-and-line fishery. However, the trolling fleet was traditionally known to land the bulk of frigate tuna and kawakawa in the Maldives (MRS, 1996). In the recent five years, both species combined have contributed an average of less than 1% to the national tuna landings. Importance of neritic species have declined over the years due to the prominence of oceanic tunas, namely skipjack and yellowfin, and the collapse of the traditional troll fishery which primarily landed frigate tuna and kawakawa.