A tuna co-operative in Addu has rewritten the fuel-subsidy rulebook on the ground — and is quietly out-earning the scheme it replaced.
By Hassan Zahid|Published 14 April 2026 · 06:20 MVT|7 min read
Skippers at Hithadhoo harbour, Addu Atoll, offloading yellowfin at first light. The Fuvahmulah-Hithadhoo co-op handles ~18% of Maldivian tuna landings.Photograph · Masnooee / Aminath Shifa
For three years the Fuvahmulah–Hithadhoo tuna co-op has run a parallel fuel-subsidy scheme — scaled to actual days at sea, not monthly caps — that quietly out-earns the national programme it technically supplements. Until now, nobody in Male’ has looked at their books.
Comments open soonThe Masnooee comments desk is verifying reader accounts before re-opening.
Iqthisaad · Fisheries
What the fishermen know that the ministry doesn’t
A tuna co-operative in Addu has rewritten the fuel-subsidy rulebook on the ground — and is quietly out-earning the scheme it replaced.
HZ
Hassan Zahid
Masnooee Newsroom
Published 14 April 2026 · 06:20 MVT 7 min read
Skippers at Hithadhoo harbour, Addu Atoll, offloading yellowfin at first light. The Fuvahmulah-Hithadhoo co-op handles ~18% of Maldivian tuna landings.Photograph · Masnooee / Aminath Shifa
For three years the Fuvahmulah–Hithadhoo tuna co-op has run a parallel fuel-subsidy scheme — scaled to actual days at sea, not monthly caps — that quietly out-earns the national programme it technically supplements. Until now, nobody in Male’ has looked at their books.