Fishery management body planned for Cambodia and Laos

Khmer Times Cambodia and Laos have agreed to set up a joint fisheries management body by the end of 2018 and reaffirmed their commitment to improved fisheries management in border provinces. Fisheries authorities from both countries and officials from the respective national Mekong committees (NMCs) recently went on an exchange visit to the Mekong and Sekong rivers, connecting Champasak and Read More…

Cambodian fish yields rise, exports fall

Khmer Times The total export of fish products decreased in 2016 even though fish yields rose, causing income from the fisheries sector to drop by nearly a half compared with a year earlier. An Agriculture Ministry report showed that income from the fisheries sector in 2016 was $565,284, a dramatic decline of about $465,000 from 2015. The total export of fresh fish products was 9,100 metric Read More…

Thousands of cases of illegal fishing found by task force

Cambodia Daily In just over a month since the creation of a special task force to curb illegal fishing on the Tonle Sap lake, the Agriculture Ministry says it has already dealt with thousands of offenses. “We have arrested nearly 10 people and cracked down on almost 4,000 cases during the operation,” Agriculture Minister Veng Sakhon said on Wednesday. “Some of them were sent to court Read More…

Government officials expect high fish yield in Cambodia

Khmer Times Government officials are predicting a better haul of fish, typically used to make prahok, this season due to higher water levels in the Tonle Sap Lake and River. The fishing season, which began on Thursday and is expected to last until February, will see higher yields especially in January, said Eng Chea San, director-general of the Agriculture Ministry’s fisheries Read More…

$100 million freshwater aquarium planned for Phnom Penh

Khmer Times A $100 million freshwater aquarium, part of which will be a research and breeding center, is being planned for Phnom Penh.  The project, revealed in a meeting between Prime Minister Hun Sen and a visiting Japanese delegation from the Japan-Cambodia Association on Friday, will be funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Takahashi Fumiaki, president of the Read More…

Salinization threatens Vietnam’s Mekong Delta

Tuoi Tre News Saltwater has intruded into a large section of a major river in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, threatening the livelihoods of local residents. Saline water has spread to some 20 kilometers of the Tien (Front) River, with locals now bracing themselves for an extended drought and further salinization. The Mekong River splits into two at Phnom Penh to form the Tien River, the main Read More…

Tiny Betta fish with Thai flag color breaks record, sells for more…

International Business Times A Siamese fighting fish with colours resembling the national flag of Thailand has broken the record of the most expensive fighter fish ever sold after it was bought for a record-breaking amount at an online auction in Bangkok. The fighter fish, which is also known as the Betta, is native to the Mekong basin of Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand and are Read More…

Scientists using DNA to track Mekong’s ‘monsters’

The Phnom Penh Post Environmental DNA collection could be a “silver bullet” for tracking and protecting critically endangered fish in the Mekong, according to a new report. The technique – which involves filtering DNA in shed skin from river water – was put to the test at six deep Mekong River sites, including two in Cambodia, in the study Trails of river monsters: Detecting Read More…

Tonle Sap wetland on the brink of a crisis

The Phnom Penh Post In a statement last week, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature identified ongoing fires in flooded forests as a major threat to the Tonle Sap lake. Described by the IUCN “as the heart of Cambodia’s freshwater fisheries, the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia and one of the most productive wetland areas in the world” as well as the source Read More…

Saltwater continues threatening Mekong Delta

Vietnam Net Bridge Saltwater is likely to intrude as far as 70km in Tien and Hau River, the two main tributaries of Mekong River in the Mekong Delta, said the National Centre for Hydro-meteorological Forecasting. This year, salinity intrusion is likely to be more seriously than normal since late February through to the beginning of May, even through July if it does not rain. The centre Read More…