The fisheries sector in Myanmar, comprising the freshwater fisheries, marine capture fisheries and aquaculture, plays a very important role in the economy of the country and provides an important source of food security for the people of Myanmar. Presently, the freshwater capture sector is by far the most important economically and socially. The Ayeyarwady Delta once supported half of the mangrove forests in Myanmar. but there are competing demands on the mangrove ad fisheries ecosystem in the Ayeyarwady Delta. Several years of pressure on the mangrove forests, including demand for firewood and charcoal, hunting mangrove animals, conversion of mangrove areas for rice and shrimp farming and destructive fishing practices such as excessive fishing efforts, have significantly reduced the productivity of the mangrove forest areas. Specifically in relation to fisheries, there are now clear signs of serious depletion in the Delta. The observed volume fish landings are declining and there is a reduction in the size of species caught. 

The Sustainable Small Scale Fisheries and Aquaculture Livelihoods in Coastal Mangrove Ecosystems was part of the Environmentally Sustainable Food Security Programme (ESFSP). The aim of the Sustainable Small Scale Fisheries and Aquaculture Livelihoods in Coastal Mangrove Ecosystems project is to promote and undertake pilot level implementation of practices for the co-management of fisheries in a demarcated management area in the Ayeyarwady Delta. One of the activities of the ESFSP to address the problem of conservation of fisheries resources in the mangrove areas is the “formulation and promotion of better co-management practices and sustainable utilisation guidance for mangrove ecosystems.” 

Implementation of co-management in the pilot areas for the project, and in Myanmar as a whole, is not supported by the existing fisheries and related legal framework. An additional complicating issue that has arisen is the substantial overlap and contradictions between the fresh water fisheries legislation and legislation dealing with forestry and wildlife conservation in the mangrove areas. Additionally, enforcement of existing legislation is weak. The factors listed above have given rise to the need to undertake an evaluation of the legal framework underpinning forestry and fisheries legislation, including co-management arrangements and enforcement challenges to inform proposals for change. This review contains an overivew of these legal issues as they pertain to aquatic resources management especially in freshwaters and their relationship to other legislation on natural resources in Myanmar. There is particular reference to co-management and the legal aspects relating to its emergence in Myanmar.