FISHERIES exports are expected to recover from Cyclone Nargis by August or September and may exceed last year’s total exports, a Department of Fisheries (DOF) official told The Myanmar Times last week.

“Exports are slowly recovering after the cyclone and if we have no further problems with the weather or fuel difficulties, we can be back to normal export levels [by August or September],” the official said.

Fisheries exports this financial year – from April 1 to July 12 – have so far raked in about US$125 million, of which about $77 million was from normal exports and the rest border trade.

The official said the export from normal trade was higher than that of last year, while border trade was lower.

Of the $125 million in total exports, freshwater farmed fish totalled about $13 million. Figures for most other categories were not available.

Chairman of the Myanmar Fishery Products Processors and Exporters Association said exports are normal but lower global market demand for fishery products meant prices continued to fall, hurting export revenue.

“The prices have fallen about 30 cents per kilogram for all the fishery products,” said U Nyo Min, the association chairman.

Another association official said the industry was examining the possibility of exporting products to EU countries through Russia, which would lower import taxes.

“The taxes are higher if we export directly to the EU market but we have learnt there is a channel where we can send our products to the EU through Russia. That can benefit us as there is no tax with Russia,” he said.

Ornamental fish exporters said they would find it extremely difficult to reach this year’s target of $300,000 in exports because of damage caused by Cyclone Nargis.

“During the storm, our hatcheries in Yangon's suburbs were damaged and we are now facing problems because of a shortage of fish,” an exporter said.

About $5 million has so far been earned from crab exports while eel exports currently stand at about $3 million.