The COVID 19 coronavirus is having a “serious impact” on Myanmar’s thriving seafood exports to China due to interruptions in overland transport routes, according to Myanmar Sustainable Aquaculture Program (MYSAP) Director Kevin Fitzsimmons.
MYSAP is funded by the European Union and German development agency GIZ with the goal of developing the aquaculture sector in Myanmar, as a solution to widespread malnutrition and rural poverty in the Southeast Asian nation.
Shipments of live crabs and eels destined for the Chinese restaurant trade have been particularly hard hit.
“Two of our most critical seafood exports are live crabs and live eels,” Fitzsimmons told SeafoodSource. “At this point the trade has essentially ceased. There is no restaurant demand for live crabs or eels inside China, so sales have cratered. I expect that no Chinese drivers are coming into Myanmar or Burmese drivers going into China.”
Typically, crabs and eels collected from the wild and farms in Myanmar are moved to separate eel- and crab-collection centers in Mandalay, Fitzsimmons said.
“At the centers, the eels and crabs are sorted and repacked with clean fresh water into larger containers and loaded into semi-tractor trailer rigs that drive over the mountains of Shan state to the Chinese border,” he said. “ From the border, I am not clear as to who drives the rigs, but I understand that they continue to Kunming [large city in southwestern China] and then the crabs and eels are distributed all over China by road, train, and air.”
The news is slightly better for frozen shrimp, Fitzsimmons said.
“We also hear that the trade in frozen shrimp and fish is slowing down, but nowhere near the cessation that has hit the crab and eel markets,” he said. “However, as the epidemic inside China continues, we expect that seafood products going to restaurants from Myanmar and rest of ASEAN will be severely impacted.”
This is despite the fact that Myanmar has not yet had any direct exposure to the virus.
“Myanmar has to this point zero reported cases and of course we hope that continues,” Fitzsimmons said.
Photo courtesy of RaroLens2/Shutterstock
