MYANMAR conservationists and marine wildlife experts have applauded plans to seek greater protection for the Ayeyarwaddy dolphin at a two-week conference of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species that began in Bangkok on October 2.

U Tint Tun, a marine biologist, said the move by Thailand to ban trade in the dolphins would help to ensure their survival.

Although the dolphins are named after the Ayeyarwaddy, they are also found in waterways and in coastal areas throughout Southeast Asia and northern Australia.

A Thai official has said a better level of protection would prevent marine parks throughout Asia from expanding trade in the dolphins, which number about 3000 in the wild.

The Thai move is among 50 amendments to the convention which will be discussed at the conference. It will be attended by delegates from the 166 countries that have signed the convention.

‘’It is a good idea (to seek the highest level of protection for the mammals), especially for Myanmar,” said U Tint Tun, who is involved in dolphin conservation efforts.

He said that although Myanmar fishermen and villagers neither killed nor traded the dolphins, more protection was needed because of accidental deaths, most of which were caused by the mammals becoming entangled in nets.

If the ban took effect it would be reflected in education campaigns aimed at Myanmar fishermen and villagers, U Tint Tun said. “We will be able to tell them that the dolphins are protected internationally,” he said.

U Tint Tun said if CITES decided to increase the level of protection for the dolphins it was likely to mean more funding from international organisations for conservation work in Myanmar.

“They will have more interest in the issue, which means we will get more help from them,” he said.

The move by Thailand was also welcomed by U Mya Than Tun, a staff officer at the Department of Fisheries, who said the dolphin population in the Ayeyarwaddy was declining.

The latest survey, conducted by the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society in December 2003, had estimated that only 50 of the dolphins remained in the Ayeyarwaddy, all of them between Mandalay and Bhamo.

U Mya Than Tun said another reason why it was important to protect the dolphins was to preserve the cooperative relationship between them and fishermen.

The dolphins help to herd fish into nets in a relationship known as cooperative fishing, which U Mya Than Tun said had the potential to become a tourist attraction.