Yellowfin Tuna Add to Successful Full-Day Maldives Charter Around Fulhadhoo

Yellowfin tuna did not headline the Fulhadhoo run so much as complete it. Horseburg Fishing 27 ran a full-day charter around the island on April 13, 2026 with giant trevally and yellowfin tuna in the sights, and the crew finished with what FishingBooker described as a big smile.

That matters because Fulhadhoo, in Baa Atoll, is not being sold as a one-species tuna factory. Captain Ismail knows the local fishery, and around Fulhadhoo the usual offshore conversation already includes dogtooth tuna, giant trevally and other prized fish. The yellowfin fit into that pattern as part of a high-end mixed bag, not as a stand-alone search for a single giant fish. For anglers planning the trip, that changes the pitch: bring a setup built for hard runs, strong drag and fish that can eat in open water or turn back toward structure, because the destination rewards versatility more than narrow specialization.

The larger Maldivian backdrop makes that even clearer. The government says tuna fishing is indispensable to food security, livelihoods and jobs, and the country’s two main tuna fisheries are pole-and-line and handline. In the 2024 national report to the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission, total tuna landings in 2023 reached 160,485 tonnes, with yellowfin accounting for 19 percent of the catch. Yellowfin are mainly caught by handline and made up about 64 percent of handline catch that year, which puts a Fulhadhoo charter report squarely inside a much bigger national fishery.

That context also explains why the Maldives can feel different from a standard tropical charter stop. The targeted yellowfin handline fishery was introduced in the late 1990s, catches peaked at more than 160,000 tonnes in 2006, and the fishery was still at about 134,318 tonnes in 2019. Visit Maldives says fishing is the country’s second-largest industry after tourism, and tuna remains central to daily life and export history. Fulhadhoo sits in Baa Atoll Biosphere Reserve, where UNESCO counts 75 islands, 13 inhabited, and points to deep channels and open-ocean habitat as part of the reason tourism and fisheries both matter there.

The practical read is straightforward: if yellowfin is the whole point, Fulhadhoo is better viewed as a capable piece of a broader pelagic program than as a pure tuna destination. If you want a charter where tuna can show up alongside GTs, dogtooth and other heavy hitters, this is exactly the kind of mixed offshore ground that keeps the Maldives on the shortlist.