Legal review of how climate change is addressed in the Maldives fisheries legal and policy framework

The Maldives already has many of the laws, policies and management tools needed to support sustainable fisheries. But as our ocean changes, our fisheries governance must be able to change with it.

This review examines how climate change is addressed across the Maldives’ existing fisheries legal and policy framework. It finds strong foundations, including an explicit climate mandate in the Fisheries Act, science-based management and established monitoring and management systems. However, climate risks are not yet consistently translated into fisheries regulations, management plans and day-to-day decision-making.

The review identifies practical opportunities to strengthen the existing system, including better integration of climate science, more adaptive fisheries management, protection of climate-critical habitats, greater support for fishing communities, and a transition towards a lower-carbon fisheries sector.

The message is clear: we do not need to build a new fisheries governance system. We need to make the existing system climate-responsive