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Myanmar, one of the largest countries in Southeast Asia, has a coastline of about 3 000 km and extensive marine and freshwater fisheries resources. The whole fishery and aquaculture sector provide opportunities for employment to 2.3 million people and fish is one of the most important protein sources of the people of Myanmar.

Fish plays a key role in the country's economy: rising global demand led to an increased country production, which reached 3.2 million tonnes in 2018, and a growing trade trend, with China as the main importer country. The sector is therefore an opportunity for the country's welfare and livelihood but also might undermine the sustainability of fisheries resources.

Fisheries co-management has emerged as a solution to issues impacting the fisheries sector. “Fisheries co-management is a mode of governance focusing on a partnership agreement between the government and fishers through which resource users’ capacity and responsibility, combined with the support of formal legal frameworks and information/decision-making systems, may offer specific advantages” stated Mr. Franz Arnold, FAO Representation in Myanmar, during his opening speech at the Myanmar Project Area Identification Meeting, the event organized by FAO to launch the five-year project “Fisheries Co-management Capacity Development for Blue Communities: Sustainable Fisheries and Diverse Livelihoods (2020-2025)”, part of the Korea FAO Sustainable and Innovative Fisheries and Aquaculture Programme (KOFAP) funded by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries of the Republic of Korea. Its expected impact is to foster fisheries co-management systems and diverse livelihoods as additional and alternative jobs contributing to achieving economic, environmental and social sustainability of fishing communities. 

The virtual event was held on 24–25 November 2020 and brought together about 70 participants representing various interests around fisheries co-management in Myanmar to review the objective, outputs, activities, and work plan of the project.

The project aims to address some of the current challenges in the sector through the strengthening of fisheries co-management, as well as to have synergic effects with other similar projects or programs related to fisheries co-management currently implemented or previously undertaken in Myanmar, underlined U Wai Lin Maung, Director General of the Department of Fisheries of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar.

During the two days meeting, participants identified key institutions, organizations, and projects dealing with fisheries co-management and shared experience, lessons learned, and best practices from previous and ongoing projects in Myanmar focusing on fisheries co-management or having a fisheries co-management component. The experts’ discussion also highlighted the need for developing the best cooperation and coordination mechanism for an effective and efficient implementation of the project, and suggested selection criteria for the implementation sites in Myanmar. 

In line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially SDG 14 “Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development”, with a focus on fisheries co-management and its impact on fisheries preservation, the collaboration among FAO and Myanmar looks forward to strengthening the sector and enable better livelihoods through more sustainable fishing practices.