The Department of Fisheries is stepping up measures to ensure that fish farms in Ayeyawady, Yangon and Bago regions comply with Good Aquaculture Practices (GAqP), including a ban on integrated fish and chicken operations.
Building chicken sheds over fish ponds and using chicken manure as fish feed is prohibited in the three regions, where both activities are widely practised. Fish producers in Nay Pyi Taw, Sagaing, Magway, Shan, Chin, Kachin, Rakhine and Kayah have also been notified not to combine the two activities.
To promote GAqP, Department of Fisheries officials conducted awareness-raising training in 15 townships in Bago Region from March to August during the 2026-2027 financial year. Producers were instructed not to keep chickens or other animals alongside fish, build new chicken sheds over ponds or renovate existing ones. Officials are also facilitating the registration of fishpond ownership.
“We have notified unlicensed chicken operations, as well as those operating under BAP and GAqP systems, not to practise integrated chicken and fish production. Where such practices exist, we are taking measures to discontinue them. We have already conducted 15 training sessions to ensure that producers understand the requirements,” said Dr Su Myo Thwe, Director of the Bago Region Department of Fisheries.
The measures are expected to support freshwater fish for domestic consumption and export in line with Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) and GAqP, helping improve food quality and health standards while increasing opportunities to earn foreign exchange from established export markets. — Thitsa(MNA)/KZL
#GlobalNewLightOfMyanmar