Tuesday 12 February 2013

Delta fisheries dispute continues

A dispute over fishing rights could cost the owners of private fish ponds in Maubin township, Ayeyarwady Region, their entire investment this year, the owners say.

But local fishermen insist on the right to fish freely in the pools, despite the owners’ claims.


In September two fishermen were shot dead in Ayeyarwady Region’s Kyonpyaw township by police in an altercation over illegal fishing.

U Htun Wai, a fish pond owner in Maubin township, says he invested K10 million this year on a 300-acre pool, and faces the loss of his entire investment unless the fishing is halted.

“We’ve been losing money for the past two years, but this year was the worst. Last year we lost 20 percent of our investment. This year, we’ve lost nearly everything,” he said.

Speaking of the local fishermen, he said: “They regard all fishing pools as common property that the government has given them. I remind them that I am the owner and that I’ve paid annual revenue, but they don’t accept that,” he said.

However, a Maubin fisherman told The Myanmar Times that the common fishing grounds are too far away from towns and villages.

Another pool owner, U Kyaw Soe, said on February 3: “I have to watch 19 people fishing in my pools. I can’t do anything about it.”

The problem seems to lie in the interpretation of century-old legislation governing fishing rights.

The 1905 fishing law, which was drafted by foreign experts, established four kinds of fishing pools: leaseable, resort, open and protected fishing, said U Nyunt Maw, a former member of the Myanmar Fisheries Federation in Maubin township.

“The law doesn’t cover the idea of common fishing places, which has emerged since the present government was elected,” he said.

U Aung Kyaw Moe, deputy director of the Department of Fisheries in Maubin township, said the department views a number of formerly tender pools as common fishing grounds but fishermen who want to fish those areas must have licences. He added that 14 ponds that had been marked out using nets on the streams and rivers in Maubin township had been dismantled by the department in the 2012-13 financial year.

However, he said fishermen have told him that they did not want to apply for licences to fish – and want to catch fish wherever they like.

“That’s not acceptable to us because we need to maintain and conserve fish species as well,” he added.

However, the secretary of a licensed inland fishing association that has not been officially recognised yet, and is also called U Aung Kyaw Moe, said: “We want the government to reform the fishing rules for everybody’s benefit.”

U Khin Ko Lay, director general of Yangon Region’s Department of Fisheries, told the Myanmar Fisheries Federation meeting in Yangon that in the 2011-12 fiscal year there were 3415 pools and 1777 leasable pools in Ayeyarwady Region. However, he said statistics for 2012-13 are not available.

U Win Kyaing, general secretary of the Myanmar Fisheries Federation, said in October that the fishing licences date back to the colonial era and are a source of tax revenue for the regional government.

Businesspeople buy the rights to fish lakes and artificial ponds from the government through a tender system but he said some people have been taking advantage of lax security to steal fish from the ponds.

“The law has never allowed villagers to catch fish in the lakes … if they don’t obey the law and it is not enforced, that can discourage investment. I am also worried that the government will get less tax revenue,” he said.

He said the lakes had previously been administered by the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries but responsibility was transferred to regional governments in 2011 after their creation under the 2008 constitution. He said the ministry used to fine or imprison those who illegally fish in the lakes but the regional government had taken a less strict approach because, it said, it is prioritising poverty reduction.

source: The Myanmar Times
http://www.mmtimes.com/index.php/business/4065-delta-fisheries-dispute-continues.html

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