"Fishery workers in Kyonepyaw and Lemyethna townships in Irrawaddy Region staged a protest against the regional agriculture minister on Monday in Pathein, the regional capital, over what they claim is an unfair distribution of fishing rights. In a longstanding practice that dates back to the colonial period, the rights to fish in lakes in Myanmar are auctioned off by the government to private businessmen on a yearly basis. Wealthy fishery owners have long monopolized the fishing lakes, with poor laborers generally working for a daily wage. But in recent years, fishery workers have formed cooperatives and started bidding for rights. This has been widely supported by local communities, as the increased income helps to improve living standards. Generally, authorities issue two types of permit. A Type 1 permit allows the holder to fish in a lake for one year, while a Type 2 permit is issued for one to three years and allows the holder to breed fish in the lake..."