Narinjara News
Jellyfish gone out of
market
Sittwe, 27 May 03: Jellyfish, the
hot item in last year’s export from the western Rakhine
State of Burma has hit a snag, reports our correspondent. Unlike in last
year, the jellyfish has either eluded the Burmese fishermen or declined in
their number in the
Last year during the world cup football tournament the price
of jellyfish shot up from kyat 1.25 million to 2.5 million kyat.
Most of the buyers came from
The price of jellyfish at present stands at between kyat 30 and 40 million a tonne.
This year due to the dwindling number of jellyfish the fishermen have been
facing hard luck and the money the businessmen invested in the trade can hardly
be recovered.
A jellyfish buying house owner was given the permission to do trade only when
he/she could pay kyat five million as annual deposit money to the Western
Command beginning last month. Out of the deposit kyat 40 million
was refunded while the rest was kept by the Western Command, according to Kyaw Thein, the chairman of the
Jellyfish buyers’ association. Last year there were 178 jellyfish buying
houses in
The trade in jellyfish included huge bribes to the Burmese junta officials and
law enforcement agencies including the navy, military and intelligence
forces. It is alleged that for obtaining a business and trade licence the buyer as well as the seller of jellyfish had to
pay kyat 100,000 each as the licence fee besides
bribes at the countless checkpoints on land and the sea.
The jellyfish is a seasonal item and it can only be caught during the monsoon
months between April and October every year. #