A position Paper Prepared for the New Perspectives on Climate Resilient Drylands Development Project Socioeconomic characteristics of hilsa fishers in the Ayeyarwady Delta, Myanmar Opportunities and challenges Wae Win Khaing, Michael Akester, Eugenia Merayo Garcia, Annabelle Bladon and Essam Yassin Mohammed Country Report Fisheries; Poverty Keywords: December 2018 Sustainable fisheries; ocean; poverty reduction; livelihoods; communities About the authors Wae Win Khaing, Network Activities Group; Michael Akester, WorldFish Myanmar, Eugenia Merayo Garcia, International Institute for Environment and Development; Annabelle Bladon, International Institute for Environment and Development; Essam Yassin Mohammed, International Institute for Environment and Development. Corresponding author email [email protected] Produced by IIED’s Shaping Sustainable Markets group IIED's Shaping Sustainable Markets group works to make sure that local and global markets are fair and can help poor people and nature thrive. Our research focuses on the mechanisms, structures and policies that lead to sustainable and inclusive economies. Our strength is in finding locally appropriate solutions to complex global and national problems. Acknowledgements We would like to thank all participants of the socioeconomic survey that formed the basis of this report – particularly the Ayeyarwady Delta fisherfolk. We thank the Ayeyarwady Region Department of Fisheries, township Department of Fisheries offices, and the Myanmar Fisheries Federation for their support. We also recognise the contributions of WorldFish, the FISH CGIAR Research program, and Bobby Maung and Myo Zaw Aung from the Network Activities Group. Published by IIED, December 2018 Wae Win Khaing, Michael Akester, Eugenia Merayo Garcia, Annabelle Bladon and Essam Yassin Mohammed (editor) (2018) Socioeconomic characteristics of hilsa fishers in the Ayeyarwady Delta, Myanmar: Opportunities and challenges. IIED, London. https://pubs.iied.org/16656IIED ISBN : 978-1-78431-692-1 Printed on recycled paper with vegetable-based inks. International Institute for Environment and Development 80-86 Gray’s Inn Road, London WC1X 8NH, UK Tel: +44 (0)20 3463 7399 Fax: +44 (0)20 3514 9055 www.iied.org @iied www.facebook.com/theIIED Download more publications at https://pubs.iied.org IIED is a charity registered in England, Charity No.800066 and in Scotland, OSCR Reg No.SC039864 and a company limited by guarantee registered in England No.2188452. COUNTRY REPORT The Darwin-HilsaMM project is developing an incentive- based system of hilsa fisheries management in Myanmar’s Ayeyarwady Delta. This study uses a mixed-methods approach to assess the socioeconomic status of local fishing households. Many are extremely vulnerable, owing to the seasonal nature of fishing and unpredictable flows of income. Coping strategies include informal loans, livelihood diversification, and migration, while many flout fishing restrictions to cover costs and repay loans. Given these household characteristics, we recommend monetary or in- kind incentives for compliance with regulations, more inclusive access to suitable financial products, skills training and small- business investment, more co-management institutions, and awareness-raising campaigns. Contents Summary 4 5 Other livelihoods 31 5.1 Livelihood diversity and preferences 32 1 Introduction 6 5.2 Migration 33 1.1 The Myanmar hilsa fishery 7 1.2 Fisheries governance in Myanmar 7 6 Perceptions of hilsa fishery management and 1.3 Aim and objectives 9 sustainability 35 6.1 Hilsa spawning and migration 36 2 Methods 10 6.2 Hilsa abundance and threats 37 2.1 Household survey 12 6.3 Environmental awareness and motivation 37 2.2 Focus group discussions 12 6.4 Co-management 37 2.3 Key informant interviews 12 2.4 Participatory rural appraisal 13 7 Conclusions and recommendations 39 3 Socioeconomics of hilsa fishing households 14 Appendices 42 3.1 Who are they? 15 Abbreviations and acronyms 50 3.2 Housing, infrastructure and assets 16 3.3 Income, expenditure and debt 18 Glossary 51 4 Fishing activities 24 References 52 4.1 Hilsa fishing 25 4.2 Fishing grounds, effort and timing 25 4.3 Seasonality 26 4.4 Hilsa marketing 28 www.iied.org 3 SOCIOECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS OF HILSA FISHERS IN THE AYEYARWADY DELTA, MYANMAR Summary The fisheries sector employs around 3 million people comply with regulations that limit access to the fishery in Myanmar’s most impoverished areas and provides or require investment in specific types of fishing gear. an essential food source for many more. The hilsa fish, Local fishers use a range of coping strategies to which migrates between the Bay of Bengal and the manage food insecurity and erratic income. Agriculture rivers of the Ayeyarwady Delta, is a vital resource for is an important secondary livelihood activity for many, Myanmar’s small-scale fishing communities. However, while casual labour allows landless households to unsustainable fishing practices, habitat destruction, and supplement their income. Migration is another livelihood climate change are threatening the hilsa fishery. There strategy that generates significant remittance income for is some legislation and regulation to protect fisheries, family back home. With limited access to formal credit, for instance freshwater and inshore marine fisheries many fishers rely on informal loans from moneylenders, are subject to seasonal closures. However, capacity for fish collectors, and relatives to meet basic needs and effective monitoring and enforcement of regulations is for capital investment in fishing and other livelihood very low and illegal fishing is common. The small-scale activities. But paying back these loans represents a fishing communities of the Ayeyarwady Delta live in further challenge, with some fishers becoming indebted difficult circumstances. Many are highly dependent on to fish collectors, who provide them with advances then fishing as a livelihood activity and a source of protein pay them lower rates for their catch. Others take out and they are highly vulnerable to the seasonality and further loans to pay back moneylenders and fall into a unpredictability of income from fishing. Government cycle of debt that accumulates over the years. regulation of fishing to protect fish stocks affects fishing households’ ability to earn a sustained income. This study has generated several recommendations Frequently they flout fishing restrictions in order to pay to promote livelihood diversification and resilience. for living costs and repay loans. Introduction of a monetary or in-kind incentive system, designed with proper stakeholder participation, In Bangladesh, which shares hilsa stocks with could improve the socioeconomic situation of fishing Myanmar, the government runs an incentive-based households and their compliance with regulations. management scheme for the hilsa fishery. Following Incentives must be appropriate for the social and this experience, the Darwin-HilsaMM project aims to institutional context to minimise negative unintended design and implement an incentive-based scheme for outcomes. Financing also needs to be designed sustainable hilsa management in the Ayeyarwady Delta, with seasonal fishers in mind, for instance with no which will support the households who depend on the requirement for repayment during closed fishing resource to comply with regulations. This study used seasons. Alternative livelihood support, in the form of a mixed-methods approach to build understanding of skills training or investment capital for small businesses the socioeconomic status of local fishing populations, and farming, could improve socioeconomic conditions by identifying the constraints they currently face, the by reducing dependence on fishing. Support must be opportunities available for socioeconomic improvement, based on rigorous needs assessment, with adequate and local preferences regarding potential future options. monitoring to ensure it does in fact discourage Methods included a survey of hilsa fishing households, unsustainable behaviour. participatory rural appraisal, focus group discussions, and key informant interviews. Co-management initiatives could also incentivise sustainable behaviour and build shared commitment to The research confirmed that the majority of hilsa fishing protect the fisheries. A first step is awareness-raising households in the Ayeyarwady Region live in challenging about co-management opportunities and benefits. socioeconomic conditions and that many are extremely Where community-level institutions exist, individuals can vulnerable. A strong dependence on fishing as a work together to agree on the design of the system and livelihood activity results in unreliable flows of income, participate in monitoring and enforcement. Compliance undermining the ability and willingness of fishers to with regulations would also be expected to improve 4 www.iied.org IIED COUNTRY REPORT through the social norms that emerge from collective fish abundance, including fishing during spawning action. More community savings groups may provide seasons, fishing for juvenile hilsa, using nets with another opportunity to address the seasonality of small mesh, and blocking river channels with nets. fishing income and enable households to reduce their Local fishery associations could play a valuable role debt dependency. in raising awareness. Efforts to raise awareness on the importance and status of the hilsa fishery and how Local fishers frequently blame large-scale commercial specific