Myanmar, also known as Burma, is a delightful tourism destination. Whether you are looking for nature or culture Myanmar got it all. Today I wanted to talk to you about Myanmar’s traditional fishing methods both in the lake and at sea.
Inle Lake, located about 600 km north of Yangon, has been one of Burma's top tourist attractions in recent years. The Inthas living around the lake have been an ancestral fishing method which has now become a real tourism attraction.
being an Inle-based fishermen requires a great deal of agility! These acrobats definitely have a technique of their own: The fisherman balances on one leg at the stern of its – very unstable – wooden pirogue in order to use its other leg to help as an extra hand! They either wrap it around the oar to have two free hands or use the leg to launch their trap or net.
Inle Lake, located about 600 km north of Yangon, has been one of Burma's top tourist attractions in recent years. The Inthas living around the lake have been an ancestral fishing method which has now become a real tourism attraction.
being an Inle-based fishermen requires a great deal of agility! These acrobats definitely have a technique of their own: The fisherman balances on one leg at the stern of its – very unstable – wooden pirogue in order to use its other leg to help as an extra hand! They either wrap it around the oar to have two free hands or use the leg to launch their trap or net.
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For the Intha, fishing is done exclusively by men while women are taking care of growing vegetables in their floating gardens.
On the other side of the country, in the south, the Moken form the nomadic people of the Andaman Sea. They use to live on their boats roaming around the Andaman islands in Thailand, Myanmar and Malaysia. According to recent census they are barely 2000 left nowadays, and their movements being prohibited by the modern borders, they are forced to settle down and form villages.
"Moken" means in their language "those who dive" and it is true mokens are outstanding divers: they can hold their breath to spear fish to depth of 20 meters without much gear and it is believed that they can see in the water without a mask. They traditionally hunt fish with a spear and either jump on top of them from their boat or wait for them underwater until the fish pass by within their reach.
They are also known to use banana leaves to attract their prey.
They are also known to use banana leaves to attract their prey.
Because mokens are born and spend their entire lives at sea, their generational knowledge of the sea and archipelago is quite exceptional. For example, moken tribes knew the Tsunami was coming and escaped the wave at sea or in the hills while the neighboring Thailand coast suffered thousands of lifes.
Here are a few photos of the Moken fishermen we have encountered during our cruises in Mergui Archipelago.
Here are a few photos of the Moken fishermen we have encountered during our cruises in Mergui Archipelago.
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