With foreign fishing boats taking an estimated 100 times as many catch as locals do, Myanmar has banned all foreign fishing vessels from its waters effective at the first of April, according to an official from the Myanmar Fishery Federation. “Fish and other marine resources in our waters were declining. So Myamar banned foreign fishing boats from fishing in our waters to prevent that,” said Han Tun, MFF vice chairman. Large Burmese fishing companies would also reduce their fishing operations at sea by 35 percent during April and May—the reproductive season for many marine species—to allow fish stocks to replenish, Han Tun said.