Illegal fishing nets are being blamed for the depletion of fish stocks off Mon State. Local fishermen say stocks have declined considerably over the past 10 years, and some days they catch no fish at all.
Locals accuse fishermen from other parts of the country of using nets with holes so small that they catch baby fish, thus preventing restocking. Nets with holes that are too small are prohibited by law as a conservation measure.
U Aung Min, 49, of Aung Kan Thar village, Thaton township, said fish resources had been significantly depleted over the past decade.
We used to catch 3 or 4 viss (4.8-6.4 kilograms) of fish in the past, but we’re down to about 1 viss (1.6 kilogram) now, and some days we don’t catch anything at all. It’s because of the use of nets that catch even baby fish. I’m worried that stocks will be depleted entirely for the next generation, he said.
U Aung Min said the fishermen who use illegal nets do not live in nearby villages, but are said to be from Kyaikto. He added that illegal fishermen often fish along the coast, off Oat Pho Chaung, Thone Ein Su and Htein Pin village tracts in Thaton township.
The holes of their nets are only about 0.2 inches [5 millimetres] in diameter. You can’t push a ball-point pen through a hole that size. The net itself is up to 2 miles [3.2 kilometres] long. They keep the bigger fish, and the small fish are just wasted, he said.
Hilsa, in demand for both the local and export markets, has disappeared within the past five years in his area, he said, cutting into the livelihood of the villagers, many of whom rely on fishing.
Fisherman U Myint Aung, of Thein Gu village in nearby Bilin township, fears that the fish he catches will disappear soon. For the past seven years my livelihood has been fishing. When I started, you could catch 4 to 8 viss (6.4-12.8kg) of fish right near the coast. But now it’s hard to catch 10 viss (16 kilogram) even in a 10-day trip out at sea, he said.
He said has seen illegal nets being used off the Winga village group in Bilin township, and Kaw Htin village in Kyaikto township.
U Aung Kyaw Nyunt, executive committee member of the Biodiversity and Nature Conservation Association (BANCA), said some local fishermen used to be bird hunters, and might return to their past practice if it became too difficult to make a living at fishing.
There were 63 bird hunters in the villages of Mon state, Yangon and Bago regions. They did that job because they didn’t have the capital to start a business. It took us years of effort, providing financial and technical support and education, to persuade them to stop hunting birds, he said.
An assessment showed that reducing the number of bird hunters had helped protect bird species in the area, including the endangered spoon-billed sandpiper. I’m afraid that if they can’t earn a living from fishing, they will start hunting birds again.
U Aung Min was one of those who gave up hunting birds to catch fish. I used poison that could harm only birds, or nets. I gave that up a long time ago but if I can’t live by fishing, I may have to do it again, he said.
For many younger people, the only option is to leave for other parts of the country or foreign countries to earn a living.
Daw The Su Phyo, an official with the Department of Fisheries, Kyaikto, said it was illegal to use fishing nets with holes of less than 1-inch diameter. She agreed that the decline in fish resources in the area was likely linked to the use of prohibited nets.
We usually check what kind of nets the fishing vessels are using at the port of Kyaikto before they go out fishing. We don’t let them go if they use a prohibited net. But we can’t check them out at sea, she said.
2014 The Myanmar Times