U Ye Thwe and his fishing colleagues are bringing their nets in to honour the end of the fishing season. The Thingyan new moon and a high tide has brought a successful catch to most fishermen.
In Rakhine State, customary law requires village fishermen to observe a three-month fishing ban during the fish breeding season, so the earnings from their last harvest must sustain their families through the rainy season.
For LIFT's Tat Lan Programme, local Myanmar NGO Better Life Organization (BLO) is implementing a Fishery Co-Management (FCM) project in Kyaukphyu Township. This project enables communities to form village fishery groups that can police and advocate for the sustainability of their fishing resources.
These fishermen and women belong to the recently formed Thea Tan Fishery Workers Group (FWG). They eagerly report their catches and the weight of their fish to the Better Life Organisation (BLO) community officer who facilitates their FWG. They have caught long-tail tuna, a 10 kg groper, catfish, snapper, skate, crabs, and a 3 kg short-tail butterfly ray.
The group keep an inventory of their harvests and discuss the risks and problems of fishing on the rocky shore. The greatest challenge are trawlers illegally fishing within the two-mile protection zone.
The Rakhine State Freshwater Fishery Law recognizes the rights of village fishermen to protect their fishery resource in partnership with the government through the Department of Fisheries. BLO 's village fishery groups are working in hand with the Department of Fisheries.
“If there is more understanding and cooperation between the government, local authorities, the Department of Fisheries and the private sector, we can support small scale fishermen and stop trawlers operating near the coast. I believe we can establish and police a two-mile protection zone,” says Dr Win Htut, BLO programme director.
Policing the waters
Rakhine fishing boats fly their distinctive flags on bamboo poles to indicate their fishing zone and the location of their nets in the water. But this offers no protection from illegal trawlers who are fishing within village zones. The trawlers allegedly tear up nets and the ocean floor coral beds with the bars of iron nails that they drag behind their nets.
A member of the Thea Tan FWG, U Kyaw Win is angry that his nets were destroyed by a vessel that had covered over all license and registration information, so he had no evidence to present to the Department of Fisheries. If fishermen can provide strong evidence of the vessel infringing their fishing zone, the department can take legal action against the owner of the boat and fishermen can receive some compensation for damages. Without evidence there is no redress.
“Today, all of the fishermen need smart phones to record evidence for the Department of Fisheries,” says Dr Win Htut. Recently-introduced solar panels have brought electricity to this remote coastal community, so people now have the means of charging a smart phone.
The Thea Tan FWG are also gathering evidence to prosecute fishermen who fence-net in the coastal area because they catch fingerlings, and this threatens the sustainability of the fishery resource.
“We must protect the fingerlings in this area, because they are our and our childrens' future,” says 39-year-old fisherman and father, U Ye Thwe.
Through the Tat Lan Programme, LIFT is supporting the Better Life Organization to establish fishery workers groups in 10 villages in Kyaukphyu Township. Better Life Organization is also improving farming techniques, and water and sanitation programmes in 44 Kyaukphyu villages with LIFT funding.
