The Ministry of Fisheries, Agriculture and Marine Resources has announced amendments to the Uninhabited Islands Act, allowing greater flexibility for businesses to conduct multiple related activities on leased islands and surrounding lagoon areas.
Under the previous framework, leased islands were generally limited to a single designated purpose, making it difficult to accommodate multiple activities within the same project. The amendments allow leaseholders to maintain their primary operations on an island while also leasing adjacent lagoon areas for complementary activities.
State Minister Mohamed Naif said the changes remove restrictions that previously prevented different activities from being carried out under the same lease. He noted that an island leased for mariculture, for example, could not previously be used for agriculture.
State Minister Mohamed Muthalib said the changes to lagoon leasing could support further development of the mariculture sector, alongside existing fisheries activities such as skipjack and yellowfin tuna fishing.
Key Activities Covered
- Fishing: Commercial fishing and related support activities.
- Aquaculture and Mariculture: Marine farming and related development projects.
- Infrastructure: Fisheries-related facilities and processing infrastructure.
The amendments are expected to facilitate wider use of leased islands and lagoon areas for fisheries, mariculture and related commercial activities, alongside existing training, resource allocation and financial assistance programmes in the sector.
