World Aquaculture Magazine -December 2021

38 DECEMBER 2021 • WORLD AQUACULTURE • WWW.WA S .ORG the aquaculture industry what their needs were and to hear from them how best to educate and train students ready and able to contribute immediately upon hiring. Prior to the project, industry representatives reported that without lab facilities or practical experience, industry was not really interested in hiring university graduates who would require on-the-job training. A student intern program was developed in partnership with the aquaculture industry and the three universities. The program proved to be successful on several levels. First, the students as a group were exposed to many sectors of the industry— including hatcheries, feed mills, farms, auction sites, processing plants and retail sales. Second, individual students learned valuable lessons about holding a job for the first time, but also important aquaculture/seafood lessons that they could share with fellow students. Finally, they became an important conduit between the university and industry, providing two-way communica- tions about what they needed from the universities and what the uni- versities could produce (graduates and technical support). The pro- gram continued well after the USAID project ended, right up to the military coup on 1 February 2021. Between student boycotts, mass firings of university faculty, and the general downturn in the entire economy, the intern programwill probably never be rebuilt. There were several other important activities that developed during the democratic period. There was a concerted effort to expand and modernize the tilapia industry. WorldFish introduced the GIFT tilapia and the USAID project brought red hybrids and sex reversal technology from Thailand. Farmers were trained in intensive tilapia farming in monoculture and polyculture systems, diets specifically formulated for tilapia were developed, hatchery technology was taught and PIT tagging equipment and training were provided. Tilapia production increased quickly and prices for high-quality tilapia began to increase in the market. The shrimp industry in Myanmar had been dominated by extensive pond farming, often in areas that had historically been mangrove dominated. In some cases, the land was cleared directly for shrimp farming, and in others, salt drying or paddy rice came first and then were converted to shrimp. Between 2012 and 2020 considerable effort was devoted to developing more sustainable farming methods for those extensive farms. This included pond management training, instruction in polyculture and mangrove-friendly aquaculture, replanting of mangroves, marketing to upscale buyers and especially animal health and biosecurity. The USAID and MYSAP projects devoted significant resources to biosecurity and improving capacity to rapidly diagnose shrimp and other aquatic animal diseases. Labs were set up at Yangon University and the Department of Fisheries. Farmers and students were provided training in animal health and welfare. In conjunction with the private sector, an Anguilla eel nursery was constructed and a hatchery for mud eels ( Monopterus albus ) was developed. Eels, while a minor part of Burmese cuisine, are a major export crop to China. Live farmed and wild-caught eels are collected from across the country, consolidated and repacked near Mandalay for transport to Kunming for further live distribution across China. In a similar fashion, live crabs are collected from coastal areas and shipped to Mandalay for repacking and transport to China. In addition to the eel hatchery and nursery, pelleted feeds for eels were introduced to farmers. The soft-shell crab industry grew rapidly in the 2010s in several coastal areas of Myanmar. Domestic demand for fresh soft-shell crabs was strong and international demand for frozen soft-shell was expanding quickly. The glaring problem for the industry was the wild collection of juvenile crabs. The average size of crabs was decreasing, the catch per unit effort was going down and prices for juvenile crabs was going up—all signs of severe overfishing. The MYSAP project worked with a private-sector partner to build a commercial crab hatchery that produced and stocked nearly one million crablets on farms in Ayeyarwady and Yangon regions. The hatchery was Left and right: Class from Pathein University replanting mangroves in abandoned shrimp pond. Donation of bags of feed to farmers at mangrove friendly aquaculture workshop.