Fishing, fisheries and aquaculture

The European Commission’s proposed ban on fish imports from Cambodia would cause no harm to the country’s fish exports since it has never sold fish to European countries, a Cambodian fisheries chief said Wednesday. “The sanctions, announced by the European Commission on Tuesday, do not affect ...

Fish imports from Belize, Guinea and Cambodia are to be banned from the European Union, and three more countries have been warned their imports are in danger, in the first major sanction against countries that allow illegal fishing operations to carry on under their countries’ ...

Vietnam has joined Cambodia in questioning the sustainability of the planned Don Sahong dam project on the Mekong River in southern Laos, saying more environmental impact studies are needed before the scheme moves forward. Le Duc Trung, director general of the Vietnam National Mekong Committee under ...

Laos is pushing ahead with construction of a second dam on the Mekong River despite objections from environmental and civil society groups. Work on the main part of the Don Sahong hydropower dam near the Cambodian border in southern Laos will begin by the end of ...

Laos is taking steps to convince neighboring countries of the merits of the planned Don Sahong hydropower project over Mekong River. Lao government officials organized a site visit on Sunday and Monday so that interested parties could see the site first-hand and get a sense of ...

Environmental groups and a local community leader in Stung Treng province have called for a nationwide boycott of the popular Angkor Beer brand to protest the beverage company’s links to a controversial hydro­power dam to be built in Laos. Laos announced earlier this month that it ...

While fears have been raised over the imminent construction of the Don Sahong dam in Laos, environmentalists on Monday said Cambodia should not forget that it has a project of its own that would be equally as disastrous to the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands ...

The World Wildlife Fund, one of the biggest conservation groups, has called for an emergency meeting with the Mekong River Commission (MRC) in the wake of Laos’ decision to proceed with a second dam on the river. There are fears that this move will seriously undermine ...

Laos has notified the Mekong River Commission (MRC) that it will go ahead with the construction of the Don Sahong Dam, which environmentalists say could threaten the ecosystem of the Lower Mainstream Mekong and have a severe impact on the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands ...

The Cambodian government’s plan to build 20 dams along the Mekong River, with a view to boosting energy security, could harm food security and biodiversity in the region, as well as ignite a regional conflict over sharing of the river’s water, a conference has heard. ...

An Irrawaddy dolphin was found dead yesterday morning tied up in a fishing net and floating in the Mekong River in Kratie province, officials said. Khieu Kin, chief of Kratie’s provincial fishery administration, said that the 2.03-meter long, 105kg female dolphin had likely become entangled in ...

Residents living in the Mekong River basin are expressing concerns over water degradation in the Mekong river and its impact on farming, aquaculture and the livelihood of the millions of people who live in the region. People from Cambodia, Thailand and Viet Nam’s Cuu Long (Mekong) ...

Rem Vannak remains in poor health after enduring about two years of 21-hour days working for no pay on a fishing boat in Fiji, where he was beaten when he complained. Lin Yu Shin, who owns Giant Ocean – the company Vannak worked for that allegedly ...

International donors, including the U.S., Australia, the European Union and the World Bank, have urged the Cambo­dian government to redesign a massive hydropower project in Stung Treng province that environmentalists say will deplete fisheries and submit it to the Mekong River Commission (MRC) for consultation. In ...

A million fish formed the front line of the conservation fight yesterday, when Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries officials released them in Kampong Thom provincial waters, celebrating the launching of a national aquaculture institute. Yesterday’s celebration of National Fish Day in Baray district marks the official start ...

Two UN agencies praised Cambodia’s Fisheries Administration Thursday as an “example of success” for addressing child labour in fisheries. In a joint report, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the International Labour Organization recalled that the fisheries agency began raising awareness of ...

The construction of Don Sahong Dam, the second of 11 potential and controversial Mekong mainstream dams, is moving ahead without approval from Mekong River Commission members, according to a conservationist group report. Located less than two kilometres from the Cambodian-Lao border, the dam has been slammed ...

The Fisheries Administration and the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) on Friday officially launched a program to protect Cambodia’s coastline from over-fishing, erosion and other damage to coastal environments and livelihoods. Since the beginning of the year, the program has been training local officials ...

The elusive Mekong giant catfish, which the U.S.-based World Wildlife Fund (WWF) called “one of the world’s largest and rarest freshwater fish,” can reach up to three meters (10 feet) and weigh up to 300 kilograms (660 pounds). The Xayaburi dam would prove an “impassable barrier” ...

A fresh complaint has been filed against a company already before the courts for allegedly running a human-trafficking racket that sent more than 150 Cambodians onto fishing boats as virtual slaves. More than 20 men who claim they were forced to work almost without sleep and ...

About 200 people from Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia affected by hydropower dam projects on the Mekong River and its tributaries gathered in Phnom Penh yesterday to share their experiences of how their lives have been adversely affected since the dams were constructed. Speaking at the ...

Srekor village has stood on the banks of the Se San River in northeastern Cambodia for generations. In a few years it will be gone, submerged along with more than 300 square kilometres of surrounding farmland and forest. For 37-year-old rice farmer Pa Tou, the ...

A major Hong Kong investor in Cambodia has claimed that a government duty on seafood exports is stunting the country’s fish proc­essing industry. Hong Kong-based Sunwah Group began operating a shrimp-processing factory in Sihanoukville in 1994, and its plans in the country now include building a ...

A Northeastern section of the Mekong River that is home to a number of endangered species has been designated a conservation site by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. A prakas issued by Minister Chan Sarun on April 23 officially declared a 56-kilometre section of ...