Credit of the photo & part of the information: Mission report on inland aquaculture and fisheries, Rap publication 2003/18
Technical review: Abdel Rahman El Gamal (Founder of the website)
The photo shows a fisherman while transporting small fishing traps to be set across Lake Inle. This freshwater lake is the second largest lake in Myanmar in Southern Shan State with an estimated surface area of about 116 km2. The lake is one of the highest lakes with at an elevation of about 900 m above sea level. The average water depth of the lake is about 2.1 m during the dry season increasing to about 3.7 m during the monsoon season.
The lake hosts a unique endemic species of fish and snails including but not limited to silver-blue scaleless Sawbwa barb, the crossbanded dwarf danio, and the Lake Inle danio. Even though most of the lake fishery is not of significant importance in regard to monetary value, its social scope to the lake communities is crucial. The fish consumption of the lake catch corrects the amino acid profile of the rice-based diets, provides essential minerals such as calcium and sulphurous amino acids as well as the iodine which is an essential trace mineral against “goiter” that is a common debility in the lake region.
