Government to expand dolphin safe zone

On the heels of a year in which the deaths of endangered Irrawaddy dolphins rose – as much as 100 per cent by some estimates – the government is paving the way for greater enforcement of conservation measures along a protected stretch of the Mekong. Touch Seang Tana, chairman of the Commission for Mekong River Dolphin Conservation and Ecotourism Development, said that the government is planning to establish four manned outposts in Stung Treng province along the Ramsar – an island-studded stretch of the Mekong extending south from the Lao border, which is included in Cambodia’s 180-kilometre dolphin conservation zone but has been under-policed until now. … “Illegal fishing methods such as electrical fishing, bombs – it is so anarchic,” Seang Tana said, noting that proper dolphin conservation could be a boon for tourism, especially from Laos.” …

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013011660812/National/government-to-expand-dolphin-safe-zone.html