Agriculture and fishing
Fishing, fisheries and aquaculture
Laos seeks to soothe neighbors over Mekong dam
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 ...
Xinhuanet News Staff
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2013-11/10/c_132876218.htm
Calls for Angkor Beer Boycott Over Laos Dam Investment
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 ...
Dene-Hern Chen and Kuch Naren
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/calls-for-angkor-beer-boycott-over-laos-dam-investment-45646/
Environmentalists Say Dam Project Could Be Disastrous
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 ...
Denise Hruby and Kuch Naren
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/environmentalists-say-dam-project-could-be-disastrous-44573/
WWF calls for emergency MRC meeting over Laos' decision to build 2nd dam
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 ...
The Nation News Staff
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/WWF-calls-for-emergency-MRC-meeting-over-Laos-deci-30216410.html
Controversial Dam Approved on Cambodia-Laos Border
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 ...
Denise Hruby
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/controversial-dam-approved-on-cambodia-laos-border-44401/
Planned Mekong dams need environmental assessment
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. ...
SciDev.Net News Staff
http://www.scidev.net/asia-pacific/water/news/planned-mekong-dams-need-environmental-assessment.html
Irrawaddy Dolphin Killed in Mekong River by Illegal Fishing
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 ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/irrawaddy-dolphin-killed-in-mekong-river-by-illegal-fishing-39628/
Mekong residents voice their concerns
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) ...
http://vietnamnews.vn/society/242941/mekong-residents-voice-their-concerns.html
Anti-trafficking laws under-enforced: NGO
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 ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013070466659/National/anti-trafficking-laws-under-enforced-ngo.html
International Donors Call for Redesign of Sesan 2 Hydro Dam
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 ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/international-donors-call-for-redesign-of-sesan-2-hydro-dam-33311/
Fish tale: A million released
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 ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013070266609/National/fish-tale-a-million-released.html
UN praises Cambodia 'success' in addressing child labor in fisheries
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 ...
Lao dam unapproved yet under way: NGO
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 ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013062766515/National/lao-dam-unapproved-yet-under-way-ngo.html
Govt and UN to save coasts
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 ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013062466440/National/govt-and-un-to-save-coasts.html
Mekong Dams Threaten Extinction of Giant Catfish
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” ...
http://www.rfa.org/english/news/laos/dams-06192013184629.html
New claim filed against Giant Ocean
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 ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013061166187/National/new-claim-filed-against-giant-ocean.html
Mekong Communities Tell of Hardship From Hydropower Dams
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 ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/mekong-communities-tell-of-hardship-from-hydropower-dams-28793/
Work underway on 'catastrophic' Cambodian dam
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 ...
http://www.dw.de/work-underway-on-catastrophic-cambodian-dam/a-16803423
Investor Decries Export Tax on Cambodian Seafood
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 ...
Flooded Forest Gets Protection
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 ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013050765443/National/flooded-forest-gets-protection.html
Mekong forest facing sharp decline: WWF
BANGKOK: Demand for farmland may strip the Greater Mekong region of a third of its remaining forest cover over the next two decades without swift government action, a leading conservation group warned Thursday. Forests are being cleared for commodities such as rubber and rice while illegal logging is decimating ...
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/mekong-forest-facing-sharp-decline-wwf/661574.html
Officials Consider Export Numbers Fishy
The Ministry of Commerce has released figures showing Cambodia’s export of fishery goods including fresh and dried fish products have decreased drastically in the first quarter of the year, though several government officials viewed the figures with scepticism. Cambodia exported 49.9 tonnes of fish products in ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013050365392/Business/officials-consider-export-numbers-fishy.html
Fishermen feeling the heat
Rising water temperatures are affecting fisheries and marine life, said several representatives of Cambodia’s aquaculture industry, and the effect is decreasing seed production and lowering aquaculture farmers’ productivity. Say Sorn, president of aquaculture seed production in Siem Reap province, told the Post yesterday that water temperature ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013041165024/Business/fishermen-feeling-the-heat.html
Cambodia begins first agricultural census
Cambodia’s first-ever agricultural census is under way, tasked with addressing the lack of reliable statistical information on one of the Kingdom’s most crucial economic sectors. The census is being taken by the government with assistance from the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in two ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013041165027/Business/cambodia-begins-first-agricultural-census.html