FISH farmers said last month that they are trying to cope with the rising price of fish feed, warning that the fisheries sector will suffer if the situation continues.

“The price of fish is higher, especially for exported fish, but the price of fish feed is also higher,” said U Than Lwin, the chairman of the Fish Farmers Association.

The price of the major ingredients of fish feed – including bran and the paste from peanuts and sesame seeds – has shot up in the past several weeks, he said, adding that the reason is the weather and low crop stocks.

“The price of fish feed goes up every year at this time but this year it is much higher. We have to spend a lot more money to keep our fish farms running,” he said.

U Than Lwin said he expected the bran shortage to be corrected soon. “I’ve heard that there is a stock of rice stored in the hands of traders. They are only waiting for the right time to mill it."

However, he said he was more worried about supplies of peanut and sesame seed paste, which is produced when nuts are milled for oil.

“The sesame harvest will occur in a few months. It is better for us if they export the oil extracted from the seeds rather than the seeds themselves because we can use the paste resulting from the oil-extracting process for fish and animal feed,” he said.

U Khin Maung Aye, the director general of the Department of Fisheries, said he would talk to relevant government departments about ways to ease problems faced by fish farmers.