A Dialogue on Community-Based Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) is underway in the National College of Policing and Law Enforcement, Addu, Maldives. The two-day event (16–17 August 2026) is organised by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Global Maritime Crime Programme (GMCP) in partnership with the BOBP-IGO. Senior officials from coast guard, navy, customs, police, fisheries and other stakeholders participated and deliberated on how fishing and coastal communities could contribute to stronger maritime awareness, safety and security. Dr. P. Krishnan, Director, BOBP-IGO, delivered a presentation titled “Fishing Communities as Partners in Maritime Awareness and Security – Regional and International Experience.” Drawing on experiences from several countries, Dr. Krishnan highlighted the important role of fishing communities as the “eyes and ears” at sea. He emphasised that the success of community-based MDA depended not only on technology, but also on trust, timely response, clear institutional roles and tangible benefits for communities. “Fishers should observe and report, while enforcement should remain with authorised agencies; there shall be safeguards to protect reporters and their information” – he added. For Maldives, a practical approach linking observation, reporting, validation, response, feedback and community benefits was advocated. Existing initiatives of BOBP-IGO such as BOBSAFE, the BOB Regional Plan of Action on IUU Fishing (RPOA-IUU) and the NPOA for Small-Scale Fisheries (NPOA-SSF) already provided the important building blocks, which can aid in mainstreaming C-MDA in the Maldives. Dr. Krishnan and Ms. Eljay from UNODC were the core resource persons who also facilitated a community interaction with the fishers to gauge their perspectives towards MDA.