Absence of National Taxonomist
Inland Fisheries Taxonomy Workshop
The goals of this mission were the following: 1) continue data collection for field guide of commercial inland fishes, 2) assist Department of Fisheries staff with implementation of computerization of statistical methodologies for artisanal fisheries; and 3) provide a workshop on identification of commercially important inland fishes to DoF staff involved with the statistics computerization project.
Departure Arrival
San Francisco- Yangon 21/10/97 24/10/97
Yangon- San Francisco 18/11/97 19/11/97
During the beginning-of-mission briefing in Bangkok, FAO was advised that the Myanmar government approved an international training activity in New Caledonia for the National Taxonomist that coincided with the consultant's mission. It is to the credit of the NPD, and the Department of Fisheries as a whole, that an excellent replacement (U Mya Than Tun) was identified immediately and relieved of his normal duties for the entire time period of the consultant's mission. It is clear to the consultant that much of the success of this mission was possible because of the knowledge and hard work of the last-minute substitute for the National Taxonomist.
Work on the field guide during this mission consisted primarily of collecting additional information on aspects of the biology, seasonal abundance, and local names of commercially important species from lower Myanmar, especially Yangon and Bago Districts. In addition, a follow-up visit to areas of upper Myanmar, especially Kachin State and Mandalay Division, was planned in order to determine the commercially important species from the Upper Ayeyarwaddy River basin. Visits to markets in Yangon District, Bago District, and Kachin State all yielded important new information on species that were poorly documented, or previously unrecorded, from earlier missions. The trip to Kachin State was especially productive, as the only previous visit to that region was done during a period of normally minimal fishing activity. In addition to arranging visits to the major market in Myitkyina and nearby fishing communities, the Kachin State Fishery Officer provided the FAO consultant with an invaluable collection of fishes from remote markets that he had visited earlier in the year. A planned trip to Indawgyi Lake, also in Kachin State, received the necessary government clearances, but was aborted due to reported impassability of roads after heavy rains.
A planned visit to the markets of Mandalay District had to be canceled on short notice due to reported last-minute rearrangements of the District Fishery Officer's schedule. Previous visits to that region, which had received generous support from the Fishery Officer, mitigated this unfortunate cancellation.
A two-day training workshop on the identification of inland fishes of commercial importance was conducted towards the end of the mission. The workshop was attended by 23 people, representing various sections of the Department of Fisheries, the National Aquarium, and the Freshwater Fisheries Resources Department. The introduction to the workshop was attended by the NPD and the Director of Inland Fisheries (U Hla Win) who addressed the trainees. He spoke to the value of modern taxonomy as an essential step in the development of an efficient communication system for export of fishery products.
The workshop consisted of four sessions, each composed of a brief lecture followed by a 2 hour hands-on identification activity. A training manual was provided to the trainees, which allowed them to work, either singly or in small groups, at their own pace. The focus of the workshop was to provide flexible training to people having a wide variety of backgrounds and previous exposure to inland fish identification. Those with considerable experience were encouraged to skip over the common fishes and concentrate on those less familiar to them. People with little exposure to inland fish identification were encouraged to emphasize the most important species, and use the manual to continue their training later as self-study.
Specimens representing approximately 100 species of inland fishes were made available for study to the trainees during the workshop. These specimens were primarily taken from a reference collection that was built up by the present consultant and the National Taxonomist during this, and previous, missions. Each specimen was provided with a permanent identification tag, so that additional training sessions can be conducted by the National Taxonomist, if the opportunity presents itself.
The consultant was advised at the beginning of the mission that the microscopes intended for taxonomic training were finally purchased and available for the scheduled workshop. Prior to the workshop, the consultant had the opportunity to examine the newly ordered microscopes and discovered that they were of a type that is unsuitable for fish taxonomic work. Instead, the microscopes are of a type that is designed for very high magnification, and examination of tiny organisms or prepared tissues.
Four sessions, of approximately two or three hours each, were arranged between the consultant and the counterpart (Daw Ma Ma Lay) to the National Statistics Expert. The counterpart now oversees the statistical part of the project, because the Expert's contract is completed. During these sessions, most of which were also attended by the NPD, the methodologies of the FAO artisanal statistical software package (ARTFISH) were reviewed. Extensive discussions took place on the mechanism by which various kinds of fisheries information were to be entered and the problems created by imprecise, or missing data. At the recommendation of the NPD, the consultant and the counterpart together visited one of the villages targeted for the Yangon Division frame survey. Sample interviews were conducted together, and afterward the significance of the obtained information discussed. It was intended that the NPD, the consultant, and the counterpart would review the frame survey information obtained by DoF staff for the entire village, but by the time the consultant completed this mission, the data had not yet been transferred from the Yangon Division office, whose staff is responsible for data collection, to the head office, where the computerization is taking place.
At the completion of the consultant's mission, the computerization of the pilot study of the artisanal fishery was still plagued by a paucity of data. The frame survey for coastal fisheries of Yangon Division, which was reported to comprise 42 villages, has been conducted for only 14 of the villages, and the results of only three of these have been entered into the computer. Similarly disappointing, there were virtually no sample-survey data computerized for the pilot project. As noted above, the problem seems to be caused, at least in part, because two different units of the DoF are responsible for the data collection and data processing activities.
Two additional planned activities for artisanal fisheries: a reconnaissance survey of Mandalay Division inland fisheries, and a frame survey for aquaculture in one division/state, had not begun by the time the consultant completed his mission. The importance and mechanics of each of these activities was discussed with the NPD and the Statistician counterpart, and hope was expressed that both activities will be initiated in the near future.
The computerization effort of statistical information on industrial fisheries was reviewed by the consultant, the counterpart and the NPD. Although not an official part of this project, the consultant took the opportunity to discuss the progress on this computerization effort as a way of encouraging the DoF staff to see the value of computerized fishery data as a way of addressing questions that were previously virtually unanswerable.
Many of the consultant's suggestions for DoF activities after the project have been incorporated into the draft Terminal Statement and need not be repeated in detail here. In summary, it was suggested to the NPD that the original goals of the TCP should be incorporated into the operation plan for the DoF for the next year, in order to have enough data computerized to actually see how ARTFISH functions. Less formally, the consultant suggested that the NPD provide encouragement to the department staff that is entering the data to get them beyond the discouraging phase that is typical of the early stages of data entry, which necessarily proceeds without seeing any results.
Besides the near lack of computerized data, one very discouraging aspect of the project is the discovery that the microscopes intended for the taxonomic training phase of the project were not purchased until after five missions of consultant taxonomists were completed, two of which included training components. When the microscopes were purchased, they were of a type that is completely unsuitable for their intended purpose. With so many missions by consultant taxonomists who could have easily spotted this problem during the procurement process, it is difficult to conceive how such an unfortunate and expensive mistake was made. The consultant strongly urges the NPD to find one or more suitable laboratories that can make use of these microscopes and arrange the transfer of the equipment so that the mistake is not further exacerbated by having these microscopes go unuse
