THE Myanmar Fisheries Federation (MFF) last week signed a memorandum of understanding with the UK-based NGO ActionAid to promote the rehabilitation of the fishery sector in the Ayeyarwady delta, said MFF vice chairman U Han Tun.

According to the agreement, ActionAid will provide US$10 million over a four-year period to help the fishery sector recover from damage caused by cyclone Nargis, he said without providing further details about how the aid will be distributed.

“This could be the first step in getting aid from international non-governmental organisations for the recovery of the fishery sector. We are in discussions with other organisations and there is the possibility that we could receive more help,” U Han Tun said.

He said he was hoping for “fruitful results” from a meeting on July 18 between MFF officials and more than 40 representatives from 22 INGOs, including the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

The federation organised the meeting at its headquarters in Yangon to present the findings of its assessment of the current status of the fisheries sector in cyclone-affected areas. The two-week survey was conducted last month in cooperation with local NGO Myanmar Egress.

“At the meeting we talked about the history of MFF, its structures and ambition to help the development of the fishery sector, and then we discussed the needs of delta fishermen,” said federation secretary U Hnin Oo.

He said most of the organisations agreed to hold future discussions to help the sector recover.

“Although the meeting did not result in a definite plan, it’s safe to say that these organisations can help us because they have experience with disasters like the 2004 tsunami in Indonesia,” he said.

Meanwhile, MFF is continuing to supply boats and nets to delta fishermen.
As of mid-July, MFF had finished 2480 of the 9500 fishing boats it plans to build in cooperation with the Department of Fisheries, and 1207 of these had been distributed to fishermen by local authorities. The federation has also distributed more than 10,000 fishing nets using funds collected from donations.

According to the Post-Nargis Joint Assessment Report prepared by the ASEAN-led Tripartite Core Group, the cyclone caused a total of about K159,055 million in damage to the fishery sector.