Residents of Chaungtha Beach are objecting to offshore fishing boats’ fish-drying sites, claiming they have an objectionable smell. Coastal villagers in Pathein Township, Ayeyawady Region, said the smell from rotten dried fish was nauseating and hazardous to the health of older people. The wind blowing from the east brings the horrible stink from dried fish, said Kyaw Thu Shein, member of a local civil society organisation. The whole village can smell it. The elderly and pregnant women suffer the most from those smells. The fish-drying site spans almost an acre and most fish had been fished from the sea two to three days before, he added. Residents said their complaints to the authorities were left unanswered. We have schools full of children and clinics filled with patients. The reek bothers them all, said Kyaw Thu Shein. A regional law imposed by the general administration office on September 29 forbids the practices of drying fish and animal husbandry that are harmful to health.