His father usually left home about 5:30 am and fished for tuna all day before returning in the evening, he says.

"Ours was a small boat. There were also bigger boats on which one can go out fishing in the sea longer, for example two weeks. But whatever you go out in, a small or big one, fishing in the Maldives has to be by pole instead of by net. We do angling all the time. The fish nets are reserved only for the capture of baitfish－fish used as bait when angling.

"Our government has been very aggressive when it comes to environmental protection. That's why we still have what we had 20 or 30 years ago."

Asked whether angling is a financially viable way of fishing, Asim says that on a good day a good angler can catch up to 2,000 tuna. The fish tend to appear in groups, and when you really think about it, that kind of catch suggests the fish must virtually be jumping onto the hook, if not directly into the boat.

These days, fishing has greatly decreased compared with 20 years ago. Asim's parents stopped fishing about 15 years ago and now live in Male, the country's capital. The catch, apart from fulfilling local needs, goes on to the dining table of tourists.