Myanmar Fishery Industry expects fish exports to reach US$ 700 million in the fiscal year 2017-18

Fish exports in the 2017-2018 fiscal year are expected to top $700 million, up from last year’s $605 million, said U Khin Nyunt, Direc­tor of Myanmar Fishery Department(MFD) under the Ministry of Agricul­ture, Livestock and Irriga­tion.

“Myanmar fishery has been showing signs of healthy growth and in­creased productivity. However, the ministry should maintain an ac­tive presence to ensure that fish breeders are equipped with the best technology and industry innovations so yields re­flect target levels of pro­duction,” MFD’s Director U Nyunt Khin, said.

Currently, in line with the Union’s national ex­port strategy, the fishery industry and methods for export are a cooperation between the government and private sector.

Last year more than 430,000 tons of fishery product were exported and the aim for this year is to exceed 500,000 tons.

“The majority of exports go north to China. While poor preservation tech­niques and product stor­age has caused some ex­ports to fail foreign FDA inspections, most foreign importers still catch the fish when its thrown at them,” U Nyunt Khin noted.

“The majority of pro­ducers should be utilizing breeding farms and re­ceiving startup subsidies to modernize equipment and build infrastructure. For natural fisherman, the government must ef­fectively crackdown on overfishing as it’s rap­idly depleting natural resources,” MFPPEA’s U Tun Aye, said.

Compared to neighbor­ing countries, Myanmar ranks at the bottom in volume of fish exported. The critical reason for this is a lack of productiv­ity. There must be a na­tionwide shift to breeding from fishing in the sea, U Tun Aye, chairman of My­anmar Fishery Products Processors and Exporters Association (MFPPEA), said.

“Much of success in fishing is determined by the weather. And acute seasonal conditions im­pose limits on the yields of sea fishing,” U Thet Lwin, owner of small-scale fishing business from Ayarwaddy Region, one of fishery production area in the country, said.

Thailand, China, Malay­sia, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh, UAE, and United States are the larg­est purchasers of Myan­mar fish exports, such as rohu, prawn, crab, hilsa, and eel.

(Myanmar Business Today: http://www.mmbiztoday.com/articles/national-fishery-industry-projects-growth-still-lags-behind-asean-neighbors )

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