Fisheries Department to modify inshore fishing ban’s time frame

By Thiha 23 Nov 2020

Thiha | DMG
23 November 2020, Sittwe

Myanmar’s Fisheries Department will adjust its annual three-month inshore fishing ban in coastal areas including Arakan State, in an effort to replenish marine fisheries resources.

Each year, a three-month fishing ban is imposed in Myanmar’s waters from June to August to prevent fishing during the fish breeding season. But according to findings by experts and reports from fishermen, the breeding season is in fact from September to November, and the Fisheries Department will therefore adjust the ban accordingly, beginning next year, said the deputy director general of the Fisheries Department, Dr. Thein Tun.

“It appears that it was thought previously that the breeding season of saltwater fish was the same as that of freshwater fish because the breeding season of saltwater fish could not be surveyed properly,” he told DMG. “But we now know the actual breeding season of saltwater fish, thanks to research and reports of fishermen, and we will gradually adjust the ban as of 2021.”

The department will impose the inshore fishing ban from July to September next year, from August to October in 2022, and from September to November in 2023, he said.

“We can’t introduce changes immediately. We have to adjust gradually in consideration of the socioeconomic lives of fishermen,” he said.

Fisheries businessman U Khin Maung from Patwin village, Pauktaw Township, welcomed the move, saying it would contribute to replenishing marine fisheries resources.

“Fish do not spawn much during the time they ban fishing. This disadvantages us. Lobsters are found with eggs only in September and October. And so are hilsa. So, the change is convenient for us,” he said.

The new timeframe, however, means the business of inshore fishing with drawstring nets — a labour-intensive fishing method that normally occurs from October to April, with practitioners waiting out the monsoon season from May to September — will have to change, said Ko Maung Nyo from Thandwe, who engages in drawstring net fishing.

“The change could cause a lot of troubles for local people. Our business can only operate in the non-rainy season, and we have to rest the other months of the year. This can cause considerable hardship to many families who rely on the business,” he warned.

Myanmar’s Marine Fisheries Law threatens up to 10 years in prison, a fine of up to K300,000, or both, for fishing during the ban.