The dolphins receive customary protection from directed killing or intentional disturbance by virtue of the positive role they play in a cooperative fishery with throw-net fishermen (Smith et al. 1997). The Wildlife Conservation Society and Myanmar Fisheries Department have plans to establish a long-term conservation program for the dolphins in the upper reaches of the Ayeyarwady River. These entail one or more protected areas where gillnetting would be eliminated or dramatically reduced, enforcing laws that prohibit electric fishing, and monitoring the population and threats to its survival.