The junta navy is demanding diesel from squid fishing vessels operating off the western coast of Kawthaung Township in Tanintharyi Region, the southernmost township of Myanmar.

Junta navy personnel are demanding nine gallons of diesel (approximately 41 litres) from each squid fishing vessel operating primarily offshore from the villages of Aungbar, Makyon Galat and Bar Li Aw in Kawthaung Township.

“At night, near the small offshore islands, the [squid fishing] vessels light up to lure and catch the squid. During the day, all vessels cease operations and rest. Navy personnel in uniform then collect diesel from the docked vessels, one by one,” a 50-year-old squid fisherman from Kawthaung Township said to NMG.

Navy personnel manning a junta navy ship anchored near Bar Li Aw Village have been coming into Bar Li Aw Village on small boats and demanding diesel fuel from squid fishing boats. The last time they did this was on 2 December 2024 and prior to that they had already come and demanded fuel in this way four times since the start of the squid fishing season at the beginning of October, according to squid fishermen from Bar Li Aw Village.

This is not new. The junta navy has been demanding fuel and money from fishing trawlers and squid vessels for years. But, this year squid fishermen are facing financial difficulties due to reduced catches and paying the navy bribes is causing them even more hardship.

In previous years during the squid fishing season, which runs approximately from the beginning of October till the end of December, each squid fishing boat would catch 10 platters of squid a day (About 16.8kg, a platter of squid weighs approximately 1.68 kg.) But this season’s catches have been greatly reduced with fishermen saying that they are only catching one platter of squid every two days or two platters every three days per boat, less than 10 percent of what they normally catch.

Currently, there are hundreds of squid fishing boats operating off the coast of Kawthaung Township.