Fish and Fishery Products: 70% of population mostly consume fish & fish products

70 percent of the nation population mostly consumes fish and fishery products in Myanmar. The export of aquatic products stood at the third place in 2020-2021 fiscal year.

ShwePadauk fish market in Hlaing Township of Yangon Region is selling and distributing fresh and saltwater fish accounting for 70 percent of the country’s total sales. The saltwater fishery products mainly come from Rakhine and Mon States as well as Ayeyawady and Taninthayi Region and the farmed fish from Yangon, Ayeyawady and Bago Regions flow into the market as the freshwater fish, the market in-charge said.

Wai Lin, In-charge (Shwepadauk & ThiriMingala Markets) said "We distribute to Mandalay, Myikyina, Shan and Rakhine States as well as Ayeyawady and Taninthayi regions. We mainly export to China and Bangladesh. China mainly buys Hilsa fish and Bangladesh purchases rohu and carp fish. The fish scrap meats are also distributed to rural markets in addition to Yangon market."

The market has 444 shops and 120 stalls for vendors. The aquatic products are daily delivered to the mountain regions, border areas and upper Myanmar regions.

Seller, Nwe Ni Khine said "Consumers mostly eat fish than other meats. The sales of rohu are better than other fish. The fish sales are not stable and sometimes, the sales are good and sometimes, it is bad."

Before COVID-19, the average daily sales volume of saltwater and freshwater fishery products were over 400,000 visses and now the daily sales volume is estimated at 300,000 visses.

Dealer, Maung Naing said "We sell variety of fish and prawns. The sales are about 20,000 to 30,000 visses daily. We distribute about 70 percent of fish and fish products across the nation. The bran is used as the fish feed. Now, the price of fish feed becomes high but the fish price does not increase. It is difficult for breeders."

ShwePadauk fish market is daily opened from 4 am to 7 pm. The export of marine products from Kawthaung to Ranong earned over 160 million USD during the past six months.