Arakan State fishermen face difficulties due to rising costs for fishing gear

By DMG 25 Nov 2021

DMG Newsroom
25 November 2021, Sittwe 

Fishermen in Arakan State say they are struggling to make ends meet due to rising prices for fishing gear. 

The price of fishing gear used to be around K300,000, but now has risen to more than K500,000, said U Maung Hla Yin, a fisherman on the Kaladan River. 

“Previously, putting together fishing gear cost almost K300,000, but now it has risen to over K500,000, because plastic fishing tackle was only K8,000 per viss in the past, but now it is K22,000 per viss,” he told DMG. 

In addition, fishermen in Arakan State say they are facing various difficulties due to the low prices that fish are currently fetching. 

“The price of diesel per barrel used to be around K100,000, but now it has risen to over K300,000. The cost of fishing at sea is higher than ever before. However, fish prices have not risen and fishing has not been as plentiful as before,” U Tin Aung Thein, another fisherman on the Kaladan River, told DMG. 

Ko Hla Tint, a fisherman from Sittwe Township’s Kyaik Taw Pike Seik village, said fishing nets are also pricier. 

“Fishing nets have become more expensive than before, and fishermen are finding it difficult to make ends meet,” he said. 

The prices of some basic foodstuffs, commodities and other goods in Myanmar have nearly doubled since the coup on February 1, hitting people at the grassroots level particularly hard.