Fishing, fisheries and aquaculture

The Cambodian government on Friday said it will limit fishing in a zone in the Mekong River to protect critically endangered freshwater dolphins The Irrawaddy dolphin conservation area will cover a 180-kilometre-long (110 miles) stretch of river from eastern Kratie province to the border with Laos, ...

Thirteen percent of more than 2,500 freshwater species of fish, crabs and plants profiled across the region are under threat of extinction, a report released on Wednesday says. According to an International Union for Conservation of Nature study of freshwater biodiversity in the “Indo-Burma” region, which includes Cambodia, ...

Seven million young lobsters had been released into Cambodia’s rivers and Tonle Sap Lake this year in an effort to build the nation’s fish and shellfish stocks, officials said yesterday. Nao Thouk, general director of the Fisheries Administration at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said, about ...

Children played along the banks of Phnom Penh’s Chroy Changva peninsula yesterday, while their parents napped under the shade of their bright yellow and blue boat homes. But members of this Cham fishing community overlooking Phnom Penh’s city space said it was a very different scene on ...

More than 100 Cham fishing families who moor their boat homes on the banks of Phnom Penh’s Chroy Changva peninsula have been ordered to relocate, with one official saying the fishing boats were spoiling the beauty of the riverbank and the area around the new hotel. “We already ...

Fishermen bring their boats to shore, pack away their traps and hand over the day’s catch to their awaiting families on the banks of the Mekong River in Kratie province’s Chitra Borei district. “When my husband arrives home each day, we eat some of what he ...

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Thursday charged six people, including a provincial director of water resources and a commune chief, for their involvement in creating illegal fishing reservoirs in Kompong Thom province. “They were charged with clearing a flooded forest for encroachment and illegally constructing ...

A new long-term project aims to boost fish stocks in rice fields. That was not a typo. For years, rice farmers in Cambodia have swept up fish – as well as frogs, snails and other aquatic fauna – that make their way from streams, canals and ...

A decision on whether to build the Xayaburi dam on the Mekong River in northern Laos is a life and death one that will affect Cambodians downstream, according to Foreign Minister Hor Namhong. Speaking to reporters on Friday, Namhong said the controversial 1,260-megawatt hydropower dam has ...

Two Cambodian fishermen, trafficked into slave labour in South Africa in mid-2011, returned safely to Phnom Penh on Friday after being rescued by legal resource group the Community Legal Education Center. ...

Five Cambodian workers rescued from slave-like conditions on a fishing vessel at a port in Senegal were repatriated last Thursday. Cambodia has rescued seven labourers from Senegal, four from South Africa and five from China this year, said Huy Pichsovann ...

Kompong Thom provincial military police confiscated 29 excavators and arrested four drivers in a four-day operation ending yesterday aimed at stopping the illegal construction of reservoirs around the Tonle Sap lake, officials said. The reservoirs, which are used to retain water for use in dry-season farming, ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday marked National Fish Day by urging the public to report anyone fishing inside the Tonle Sap conservation area he established earlier this year to help protect and revive the lake’s vital fish stocks. “People have to dare to stand up and ...

At least 500,000 baby fish and 100,000 young shrimps had been released into a reservoir in the Eastern part of Cambodia on Sunday to mark the 10th National Fish Day. Annual event is aimed at encouraging people to actively join forces to preserve fish species ...

Officials and experts yesterday questioned the likelihood of Cambodia and Vietnam’s proposal to hike bilateral trade by more than US$2.5 billion by 2015. The pledge of $5 billion in total trade, made by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and his Vietnamese counterpart, Nguyen Tan Dung, last ...

The State Department on Tuesday cited abuses in Thailand’s huge fishing industry as part of an annual worldwide report on Trafficking in Persons. The report noted that men from Cambodia and Myanmar, also known as Burma, are trafficked aboard Thai ships and forced to work ...

More than 1,000 people marched in Sihanoukville yesterday to raise awareness of the exploitation of child labour, said rights workers. Kong Socheat, child rights advocacy co-ordinator for Licadho, said the province had been chosen for its high rate of child labour, especially in the fishing sector ...

The Ministry of Agriculture’s fisheries administration announced yesterday that the seasonal nationwide ban on commercial fishing is now in effect, according to a statement. Signed by the director general of the fisheries administration, Nao Thuok, the announcement states that the fishing ban north of Phnom Penh’s ...

In an effort to increase fish stocks, the Ministry of Agriculture on Wednesday adopted a sub-decree to create four conservation areas in Kandal, Kompong Cham, Prey Veng and Takeo provinces where all fishing activities will be prohibited. Signed by Prime Minister Hun Sen on April 6, ...

The number of complaints filed in Kampong Chhnang province by the families of maids working in Malaysia has jumped exponentially compared to the same period last year, a rights worker told the Post yesterday. Provincial Adhoc coordinator Soum Chankea said 39 requests for the NGO’s intervention ...

Improved quality coupled with growing international demand has sent crab prices escalating over the past year, officials said on Wednesday. In some provinces, the price has jumped as much as 66 percent during the past 12 months. Lang Kery, chief of the Koh Kong provincial Fishery Administration’s ...

A study the Lao government has used to claim the Xayaburi dam would be harmless if redesigned has been criticised for not addressing concerns about the project’s effect on fish in the Lower Mekong river. Lao Vice Minister of Energy and Mines Viraponh Viravong was reported ...

Two Cambodians were repatriated yesterday after being rescued from a fishing vessel at a port in Senegal on Friday, thanks to collaborative intervention by the International Organization for Migration and Senegalese authorities. Toy Koeun, 29, from Pursat province, and Som Pich, 20, from Kampot province, said ...

Tonle Sap fishermen and fisheries experts said yesterday that illegal fishing on the lake had increased substantially since Prime Minister Hun Sen cancelled commercial fishing lots in March and urged authorities to crack down on violators. The prime minister suspended commercial lots across the country last ...