EEL catchers will be required to register with the Department of Fisheries and use department-approved eel traps starting in the 2008-2009 fiscal year as part of a campaign to conserve Myanmar’s exportable fisheries resources.

The department will approve traps based on their ability to release eels that are too small to export but whose depletion could lead to the extinction of the country’s eels. Department regulations prohibit the export of eels measuring less than 3 centimetres in radius.

The plan was set up by the department following a briefing of eel traders from around the country by the Minister for the Livestock and Fisheries, Brigadier General Maung Maung Thein, in Nay Pyi Taw in August.

Myanmar’s eels are mainly exported to China through the border checkpoint at Muse.

Undersized eels found at the checkpoint are confiscated and released back into nature by the department.

However, the department said it aims to prevent undersized eels from being caught in the first place, to avoid unnecessary eel deaths and to reduce the cost and workload of confiscating contraband exports.