MYFish Phase II: Improving research and development of Myanmar's inland and coastal fisheries

The Myanmar fisheries sector is vital for national food security, income generation and export earnings and is experiencing increasing demands to deliver food and incomes for the growing domestic population of 52 million. Fisheries and aquaculture are an important part of the primary production and represented 8% of the country’s GDP in 2014-2015. During this period, fisheries and aquaculture produced 5.3 million tonnes of fish and exported over 338,000 tonnes valued at USD 482 million (ibid). In 2014, fisheries directly employed more than 3 million people. Seventy per cent of the fish harvested is consumed nationally (21–46 kg/person/year), making fish and fish products second only to rice in importance in the diet. Despite the importance of the fisheries sector to national food security, income generation and export earnings, fishery management (FM), defined as an “integrated process of information gathering, analysis, planning, consultation, and decision-making” remains weak across the sector. Successive governments have failed to recognize the importance of fisheries to the rural economy with policies, laws and institutions focused primarily on revenue capture and meeting centrally planned production targets. DoF reported increasing fish production from 0.83 million tons in 1994 to 5.05 million tons in 2013-2014, figures that probably reflect centrally planned targets rather than actual production, as evidenced from recent stock assessments and consumption surveys .

MYfish2 working in partnership with DoF, NGOs, Universities, and civil society organisation (CSOs) through the Fishery Research and Development Network (FRDN) program will assess and evaluate the impacts of different FM practices on the ecological and social well-being of fishing dependent communities. Data on the impacts of FM on fish production, biodiversity, food security, human nutrition and gender equity will be collected, analysed and the findings made available to support dialogue and discussions between government and fisheries organisations in an effort to stimulate improved and more insightful governance. The Myanmar Fishery Partnership (MFP) and the partners associated that are working with fisheries organisations on fisheries and natural resources governance issues will be able to use MYFish2 data to help identify appropriate institutional arrangements and rules, to sustainably increase fish production and ensure that benefits are shared more equitably with fishing-dependent communities. The recent political transition provides a unique opportunity for the Myanmar Government to reassess and revitalise the fisheries sector in collaboration with the communities that depend upon them. The project is well placed to test different management options in inland and delta fisheries, and the project’s partners and partnerships well placed to engage with Government on improving freshwater fishery governance. The longer-term development goals are measurable and offer sustained increases in fish production, equitable distribution of benefits and better gender equity, stable and increasing incomes for fishers, and improved food and nutrition security, both within fishing communities and in the domestic markets they serve.

The research strategy for MYFish2 will draw upon several existing conceptual frameworks on SSF management and in particular adaptive co-management to develop an analytical framework and tools to support DoF, NGOs, Universities, CSOs and sector stakeholders (i.e. private sector, district and township administrations, and village development committees) to: • assess performance (ecological, social, and economic) of existing fisheries management practices under different access arrangements; • diagnose problems in the management system and identify strategies and entry points, for improvements; • introduce changes to the management practices and monitor and evaluate the outcomes; and • disseminate the research findings to support the development of policies, regulations and management practices for improved fishery governance. A core purpose of this project will be to build the research capacity of Myanmar scientists from government, universities, and NGOs. Once the strategies and entry points for improving existing management practices are identified, the pilot testing of improved practices (e.g. closed seasons, closed areas, gear restrictions, mesh size limitations), will be carried out based on the principles of adaptive co-management involving local communities/ CSOs and government. The research process and tools will be designed in such a way so that the DoF and other researchers who are less familiar with social science research and in-depth facilitation methods can grasp the concept of adaptive management and carry out the necessary data collection for the initial assessment as well as the M&E. This approach is essential for ensuring the sustainability of the M&E protocol that will be established through this project.