Fishery and Socioeconomic Status of Sharks and Rays in Mon State, Southern Myanmar

Abstract

The study was conducted on the processing and production of sharks and rays and the fisheries and socioeconomic status of Mon State such as Zeephyuthaung, Setse, Kyaikkhami, Sebalar and Ahlayt fishing villages during 2018-2019 fiscal years. There were 1240 fishing boats for inshore fishing and 320 fishing boats for offshore fishing in Mon State and the four main types of fishing gears for sharks and rays namely longlines, gill net, bagnet and purse seine. Shark and ray were the high production in Setse and Kyaikkhami. The productions of processing plants were produced 11912.371 metric tons of fish and 23.561 metric tons of shrimps in Mon State. Mawlamyine Holding Processing Plant and Panda Processing Plant was produced fish and shrimp’s product only but not shrimps another plants. Among them, Thanlwin Aye Processing Plant of Ye was the most fish production (4515.611 MT) and the least production (266.21 MT) was Linn Yaung Ni Processing Plant of Mawlamyine. At Zeephyuthaung Station, it was found that about 24.5% of the landing fish is marketed fresh, 30% of transported as fresh fish with ice and marketed, 27.5% of is sun-dried, 7% of for making fish-paste and fish-sauce and 11% is cold-storage processed for export. Shark and ray were also utilized for fresh, fins, skins and dry products in study areas. Sharks and rays are suspected to constitute a sizeable of the shark meat trade, while rays are often overlooked in the fin trade. The traditional fishing boats, both motorized and non-motorized were used in the study areas.