Pole-and-line tuna fishing in the Maldives

Pole-and-line is a simple idea done with great skill. Instead of a net that scoops up everything in its path, each fisher holds a short, strong pole with a line and a single hook. When a school of tuna is feeding at the surface, the crew flick fish aboard one after another, as fast as they can swing.

It is a team effort, with a row of fishers standing shoulder to shoulder on the stern platform.

In Dhivehi, skipjack is *kalhubilamas*, and it is the fish behind most Maldivian cooking. If you eat *mas huni* for breakfast or *garudhiya* for lunch, you are almost certainly eating pole-and-line skipjack.

Before dawn: catching the bait

Pole-and-line tuna fishing starts on the reef, not the open sea. Crews leave early and first catch live bait: small reef and lagoon fish such as sprats and fusiliers, taken with small nets close to the coral. Without good bait, there is no tuna fishing that day. The bait is kept alive in tanks of seawater built into the hull of the boat.

Finding the school

With bait aboard, the boat heads out beyond the atoll rim into deep water. Crews look for the signs a skipjack school gives away: seabirds diving, the water boiling at the surface, or drifting objects that tuna like to gather under.

The frenzy

Once a school is found, the bait handler throws live bait fish into the water and the crew spray water across the surface. The splashing makes the tuna think a large shoal of small fish is breaking the surface, and they start feeding hard. That is when the fishers go to work.

Hooks are barbless, so a fish comes free the moment it lands on deck. The pole goes straight back in the water.

Back to the harbour

Boats usually return in the afternoon or early evening. The catch is landed at the island harbour, sold to collector vessels or processors, or brought straight to the local fish market. On many islands, the moment a fishing dhoni comes in is one of the busiest of the day.

Two tuna species make up nearly all of the catch.

• Skipjack is the smaller, faster-growing tuna, and the backbone of the fishery. It is the fish that goes into canned tuna, dried fish and everyday curries.
• Yellowfin is larger and more valuable. Young yellowfin often swim with skipjack schools and are caught on the pole. Bigger yellowfin are mostly taken by handline, a single baited line worked by hand.

The scale is real. The MSC fishery record lists a reported 2024 catch of around 89,000 tonnes of skipjack and around 12,000 tonnes of yellowfin for the certified units.

Pole-and-line is widely held up as one of the most selective ways to catch tuna. The reasons are simple.

• Very little bycatch. Because fish are taken one by one from a feeding school, sharks, turtles, rays and dolphins are not swept up as they can be in large nets or on long lines with thousands of hooks.
• No large nets for tuna. Maldivian tuna is caught one fish at a time with poles and lines, not with large nets.
• Longlining is closed. The government stopped issuing new longline licences in 2019. A plan to reopen longline fishing for yellowfin and bigeye was announced in 2024 and then dropped after objections from fishers, as reported in national news.

The main environmental question is bait. Live bait comes from the reefs, so healthy reefs and well-managed bait fishing are part of keeping the whole fishery sustainable. It is one more reason the country’s coral reefs matter so much.

The fishery also sits within the wider protection of marine life. Most sharks, all rays and all turtles are protected, and our guide to sharks in the Maldives explains the current rules.

The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) runs an independent certification scheme for sustainable fisheries. The Maldives pole-and-line skipjack fishery was certified in November 2012, one of the first tuna fisheries in the Indian Ocean to earn the label.

Yellowfin has had a bumpier path. Pole-and-line yellowfin was certified, then suspended in 2016 after the Indian Ocean yellowfin stock was assessed as overfished. After new stock work by the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC), yellowfin returned to the certificate, as reported by PSM News.

As of October 2026, the MSC’s public record lists three certified units under one certificate: pole-and-line skipjack, pole-and-line yellowfin and handline yellowfin. The current certificate runs to May 2028. Certification is reviewed by audits, so it is worth checking the MSC record if you need the latest status.

Fishing was the Maldives’ main livelihood long before tourism, and it still shapes island life.

• Exports. Fish and fish products make up the large majority of the country’s goods exports. A 2024 government submission put the figure at over 90%.
• Jobs and islands. Many local islands have fishing families, a busy harbour and fish drying in yards. Some islands are still known above all as fishing islands.
• Processing. The state-owned Maldives Industrial Fisheries Company runs the Felivaru plant in Lhaviyani Atoll, which has processed a large share of the country’s skipjack for decades. Our Lhaviyani Atoll guide has more on it.
• The boats. The fishing dhoni, with its high bow and raised stern platform for the pole crew, is built around this fishery. Read more in our guide to the dhoni.
• Fishermen’s Day. The Maldives marks Fishermen’s Day on 10 December each year. See our festivals and public holidays guide.

Pole-and-line skipjack is in almost every Maldivian meal. A few dishes to look for on a local island:

• Mas huni: shredded tuna with grated coconut, onion and chilli, eaten with flatbread at breakfast. Try our mas huni recipe.
• Garudhiya: a clear fish broth served with rice, lime and chilli. See the garudhiya recipe.
• Mas riha: tuna curry, the everyday main dish. See the mas riha recipe.
• Gulha: small fried dumplings filled with tuna and coconut, a tea-time favourite. See the gulha recipe.
• Valhoamas and rihaakuru: smoked, dried tuna and a thick tuna paste, both used to add depth to cooking.

You do not need to join a crew to see the fishery at work. On a local island, the harbour tells the story.

• Watch the boats come in. Fishing dhonis usually return in the afternoon. Stand back from the working area and let the crew unload.
• Visit the fish market. If your island has one, it is a lively place to see the day’s catch. Ask before taking photos of people.
• Notice the bait boats. Early in the morning you may see crews working near the reef with small nets, catching bait.

On Dhiffushi, the harbour and jetty is where fishing boats land their catch, and the fish market by the harbour shows off what came in that day. If you want to try line fishing yourself, a night fishing trip on a dhoni is the usual way; see our fishing guide for how it works and the rules on protected species.

Joining a commercial pole-and-line crew is not a standard tourist activity. Working boats go far offshore, leave very early and are not set up for passengers. Respect that it is people’s work.