An employee at the Kandawgyi Freshwater Fish Garden scoops fish out of a tank at the aquarium in Bahan township, Yangon, on July 27. Pic: Shwe Yinn Mar Oo

MANY Myanmar fish head to Asian dinner tables each day, but the number making their way into aquariums around the world is far behind that of neighbouring countries, a leading Myanmar exporter of ornamental fish said last week.

U Tin Win, managing director of Yangon-based Hein Aquarium Co., Ltd, said Myanmar had the natural resources to play a larger role in the global ornamental fish market but several challenges were holding the industry back.

“The first problem is that freight charges here are expensive compared with other countries,” U Tin Win told The Myanmar Times.

“Another thing is there are few direct flights to foreign cities from our country. As ornamental fish have to be exported live, they need to be sent by direct flights in order to cut back on transport times,” he said.

The government this month announced a step towards speedier air freight export procedures by allowing traders to acquire export and import licences in a single day at “one-stop” stations to be set up at Myanmar’s two international airports, in Yangon and Mandalay. But the service, to be introduced on August 1, does not mean more direct-flight destinations.

Since Hein Aquarium Co., founded in 1988, launched its website, www.heinaquar-ium.com, in 2005, the company has received an increasing number of inquiries from Europe-based importers, U Tin Win said. But a lack of direct flights meant he was not able to exploit all export opportunities.

“We can only send fish to countries like Singapore, which is currently our biggest buyer of ornamental fish,” explained U Tin Win.

Careless cargo handlers here also gave fish a bumpy ride on their way overseas, he added.

“Cargo handling isn’t so good at our airport (in Yangon). Because we’re sending our fish alive, they need to be handled carefully. We don’t have to worry about them once they get to foreign airports but some workers in our airports need to take more care.”

Myanmar exports about 50 species of ornamental fish, all of which are native to Myanmar. About 20 species make up the bulk of Myanmar’s exports, U Tin Win said.

“Galaxy Rasbora, Glow Light Danio and Danio Kyathit are some of the most popular species at the moment,” he said.

Hein Aquarium is responsible for about 10 percent of Myanmar’s total ornamental fish exports and was named by the government as the country’s “best ornamental fish exporter” in 2002, 2003 and 2005.

Except during fish breeding season from May to October, Hein Aquarium sends representatives around the country’s freshwater hotspots to explore for fish in their natural habitats and find new species for the world market. Popular locations include Inndawgyi Lake in Kachin State, Inle Lake in Shan State and streams in the mountains of Tanintharyi Division, Rakhine State and northern Shan State.

Myanmar does not export any saltwater ornamental fish.

The country’s first ornamental fish exports began in 1991 through Joint Venture Corporation No. 6, which is no longer in operation.

“At that time, exports failed to take off as most buyers overseas were not familiar with Myanmar fish,” U Tin Win said.

However, since then, Myanmar’s market share has been steadily increasing.
“Although exports are growing, we still need the technology to make sure the fish are healthy and colourful. Ornamental fish breeding and handling requires skilled technicians. Plus, there are only a handful of exporters here,” U Tin Win said.

Whereas Thailand and Malaysia each had about 80 firms exporting ornamental fish and Singapore 70, there were only about 10 exporters in Myanmar. “And about three are in active operation,” U Tin Win said.

“There is demand for Myanmar species of ornamental fish and most buyers like the fish from Myanmar. Also, we still have the potential to explore for more species that can be marketed as ornamental fish,” he added.

However, while Myanmar exporters may have offshore markets awaiting them, at home there is fierce competition from abroad, with fish imported from Thailand dominating domestic sales, albeit on a small scale.

“At the international level, we have to compete mainly with Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam,” U Tin Win said.

The government has set a modest increase in the export target for ornament fish suppliers this financial year, which exporters are on track to meeting. In the 2006-07 fiscal year, which ended March 31, Myanmar earned about US$106,000 from ornamental fish exports.

The government has targeted $110,000 for the current year, of which $45,170 had been raised by June 25 through exports of 395,828 individual fish, according to figures from management of the Kandawgyi Freshwater Fish Garden, an aquarium at Kandawgyi Park, Yangon, that operates under the Department of Fisheries.