Myanmar's Irrawaddy River is home to one of the oldest human-animal partnerships: local fishermen and wild Irrawaddy dolphins. But modern electrofishing -- where metal rods or conductive nets linked to car batteries send electric currents that stun unsuspecting groups of fish -- is rupturing that partnership. In its wake, inhumane electrofishing is also starving these already vulnerable 60 dolphins, depleting the Irrawaddy River and robbing local fishermen of their traditional livelihoods.
While Myanmar's government is trying to curb the illegal practice through eco-tours, it's not enough. In fact, the government helped create the electrofishing problem by selling commercial fishing contracts as competitive bids. It doesn't matter how the fish are caught -- the only thing that matters is how many fish are caught.
Please sign and share this petition urging Myanmar's President Thein Sein to crack down on electrofishing, starting with stopping competitive bids, before the Irrawaddy River is totally depleted, Irrawaddy dolphins starved, local fishermen robbed of their livelihoods and a centuries-old partnership broken.
