Just a pole and line Maldives fishers keep tuna stocks thriving

At 3.04am, most of the residents of the northern Maldivian island village of Kanditheemu are fast asleep. Only the faint sound of waves lapping against anchored boats and the crunch of sand under sandals breaks the silence. Carrying buckets and small bags, 14 fishers emerge and move quietly towards the harbour, crossing a narrow plank to board a 24-metre-long dhoni boat named Mas Vaali.

- Maya Yang

For captain Ibrahim Hamid, 61, this routine has been the same for decades: rise before dawn, steer a dhoni across the Indian Ocean, and oversee a crew hauling in silvery skipjack tuna using single poles and line.

Tuna is among the Maldives' most vital exports, and the country's fisheries still rely on a method practised for nearly 1,000 years: catching skipjack tuna one fish at a time.

More than tradition, this technique serves as a model for sustainable fishing - standing in stark contrast to destructive industrial practices such as bottom trawling and purse seining that devastate marine ecosystems.

Once caught and iced, skipjack tuna are shipped from islands such as Kanditheemu to larger processing hubs. As one of the Maldives' top seafood exports, the fish is mostly sold abroad as canned tuna, and more than 50,000 tonnes are exported to Europe and North America every year. Cheaper and milder than the premium yellowfin, skipjack is also a local staple.

Hamid began fishing at 15 and, for him, pole and line fishing is more than a livelihood to support his seven children - it is a way to safeguard the future of Maldivian fisheries.