Residents of Bago catch fish in a flooded field on the city’s outskirts after floods released fish and shrimp from nearby farms, July 9, 2007. Pic: Aung Tun Win

THE fisheries sector is working hard to rebuild its farming base after a series of floods this wet season in key regions of Ayeyarwady and Yangon divisions.

The Fish Farmers Association (FFA) revealed on September 4 it was lodging a proposal to raise the price of its exports to help farmers recover and to aid the fisheries sector in its efforts to meet an export target that appears to be slipping out of reach.

FFA chairman U Than Lwin said a proposal to raise export prices was being submitted to the Myanmar Fisheries Products Processors and Exporters Association (MFPEA), which oversees the export of fisheries products and helps set prices.

The increase was necessary to cover the rising cost of fish feed and new investments required following flooding at fish farms in August and July, U Than Lwin said last week in Yangon at a meeting of leading figures in the fisheries sector.

“Because of the rain and floods, current fish production is falling but the price of fish feed is rising. That adds to the investment costs of our fish farms, but we are trying to reach our production target,” U Than Lwin said.

In the first five months of fiscal 2007-08 up to August 31, the fisheries sector had achieved US$205.61 million in exports, according to figures released by the Department of Fisheries.

While this is not far off the $216 million earned in the first half of 2006-07, it is some $94 million short of where the department hoped the industry would be coming into September. It is chasing an export target of $750 million this year, up from $450 last year.

Exports from fish farms were at $34 million for the first five months of the current financial year, or 21 percent of their $120-million target.

Overall, fisheries exports were at 27.4pc of their target for the year, short of the 40pc required to have the industry firmly on track for the targeted total.

MFPEA vice chairman U Kyee Myint said last week his association would work to help fish farmers earn more from their exports.

“We will tell our member-exporters about the proposal by the Fish Farmers Association and we will help negotiate a new price between them,” he said.

“Over 90pc of farms in this area lost some fish and shrimp although we cannot say the losses were total. As the effect was like releasing those fish and shrimp into nature, we can catch them later from nature,” said U Khin Ko Lay, deputy director general at the department.

While the department declined to reveal precise losses from the flooding, the Myanmar Shrimp Association (MSA) said their data showed that so far about 6700 acres of shrimp farms had been lost. It estimated this could rise to 10,000 acres as the association gathers more information.

U Than Lwin said the situation in the flooded regions was beginning to improve as water levels gradually fell.

“We will keep in touch with the weather department about further possible heavy rain and flooding and prepare for that,” he said.

MSA chairman U Hla Maung Shwe said juvenile shrimps were now being bred out of season to help farmers get back on their feet.

“Usually, hatcheries only produce juvenile shrimps from February to May but because of what’s happened they’ve been producing in August so the affected farms can get started again,” he said.

The shrimp and fish farming associations both said their members were asking the state-run Myanma Livestock and Fisheries Development Bank for loans to help rebuild their operations.

Australia starts shrimp ban

Meanwhile, Australian restrictions on shrimp imports from Myanmar came into effect on September 7.

Australia announced in July it would ban raw prawn imports from countries that were not deemed disease free and imposed restrictions on processed prawns, saying the action was needed to prevent infections from hitting its local industry. Critics allege it is aimed at protecting the local industry from cheaper imports, primarily sourced from Southeast Asia.

“They said they will test shrimps upon arrival at their ports and if they find the products to be unacceptable they will destroy, send back or reprocess the product,” U Khin Ko Lay said, citing a recent letter Bio Security Australia sent the Department of Fisheries.

U Khin Ko Lay said Australia, if invited, would send a fisheries officer to Myanmar to test products here. If the Australian representative approves the Myanmar products, there would not be further testing at Australian ports, he said.

“They stated that the procedures (import restrictions) would start from September 7 and I want to inform everyone so that they can make the necessary preparations,” U Khin Ko Lay said.

Myanmar earned about $21 million from shrimp exports to Australia last year.
Australian media reported last month that members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which includes Myanmar, would complain to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) about the Australian restrictions, which are alleged to constitute an artificial trade barrier.

Canada successfully used the WTO to overturn a similar ban in Australia on its salmon exports in 2000.