The unique practice of cooperative fishing between Irrawaddy dolphins and fishermen in Mandalay Region is under threat because of electric fishing, sources said last week.
Groups of electric fishing boats can be found in a 74-kilometre-long dolphin protected area, and conservation officials say they are unable to stop the practice because the fishermen are armed and travel in large groups.
Ko Wira, a filmmaker who is making a documentary film about Irrawaddy dolphins, said the number of boats rigged to use electricity to catch fish had significantly increased in the conservation area when he visited in May.
There were 30-40 electric fishing boats even in the conservation area, he told The Myanmar Times. It was like a festival at night with the light from the electric fishing boats. We heard the sound of generators from them we could even see the fishermen who were using electric fishing equipment during day time, he said.
The filmmaker said the behaviour of the dolphins had changed noticeably in the past two-and-a-half years, which he attributed to their fear of electric fishing boats.
We saw Irrawaddy dolphins and also cooperative fishing during our first trip in January 2010, and on only two of our 27 days we didn’t see a single dolphin. But on my May visit, which lasted 18 days, we didn’t see a single dolphin for seven days. Although we saw the dolphins in other days, we only saw them from a distance. They didn’t approach our boat instead, they went away when they heard the sound of the engine, he said.
Ko Wira said this had effectively put an end to the custom of cooperative fishing, where the dolphins help herd fish into the nets of local fishermen.
Dolphins don’t approach the boats anymore and the fishermen have changed to other jobs they can no longer make a living from fishing. This unique habit of cooperative fishing is disappearing, he said.
Patrols struggle to control armed groups
In December 2005, Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries named the section of the Ayeyarwady River between Mingun and Kyaukmyaung in Mandalay Region the Irrawady Dolphin Protected Area.
The creation of this protected area was intended to rehabilitate the population of the Irrawaddy dolphin, which has been protected since 2004 under the Conservation on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna agreement, and also maintain the practice of cooperative fishing.
Under Fisheries Notification No 11/2005, the use of gill nets, drift nets longer than 300 feet and fishing implements and fishing methods that are prohibited by the Department of Fisheries, including electric fishing, are prohibited in the protected area.
U Aung Myo Chit, coordinator of Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) Myanmar’s dolphin project, said staff from his organisation and the Department of Fisheries had undertaken conservation work on the protected stretch of river since 2006. While initial progress had been promising, he said the situation had changed and other government departments need to work together to eliminate illegal fishing in the area.
Twice-monthly patrols had been unable to control illegal fishing, and particularly electric fishing, because the boats stayed in groups and their occupants were often armed, he said.
In the past, we saw one or two boats that practiced electric fishing so the patrol team could confiscate them. Today, these illegal fishermen make groups of six or seven boats, with at least two men in each boat and they are carrying dangerous tools that they use for fishing, such as spears and knives. The maximum number of people on a night patrol boat is four, sometimes six. How they will face these groups with dangerous weapon? The collaboration of other groups, such as the administrative office and police force, is needed to control this problem, he said.
He said cooperation between conservation officers and residents in the area had been excellent from 2006 to 2011.
They informed when they saw dead dolphins and helped chase away people who practised electric fishing. But these days, we have less information from the villagers. Some of the fishermen who collaborated in our conservation project were threatened by fishers who use electric fishing, U Aung Myo Chit said.
Fishermen who used to work with Irrawaddy dolphins are now too afraid to even wear t-shirts handed out by conservation groups, said U Mya Than Tun, assistant director of the Department of Fisheries’ Environment and Endangered Aquatic Animal Conservation Unit.
He said illegal fishing was booming in the conservation area and the department was struggling to bring it under control.