Everyday.com.kh
Translated from Khmer by Heng Soy
Nao Thuork, the director of the fisheries department of the Ministry of Agriculture, expressed his concerns for next year fish catch which could decrease because of the slow water level rise rate, causing a delay in the filling up of fish breeding lakes. Nao Thuork said that normally, by June, and at the latest by mid-June, water start to flow into lakes and ponds where fish spawn. But, up to now, the Mekong river water level in Kratie province has not risen yet, and this will affect the fish spawning season. Nao Thuork added that water level in the Tonle Sap still remains at 0.80 meter above the normal, therefore, the number of breeding fishes is still large, and even in the fisheries department Lot No. 2, there are still a lot of breeding fishes due to higher rains at the beginning of the rainy season. According to predictions by the department of water resources, the size of the Tonle Sap lake may be much larger this year, thereby the number of fishes may increase, but this could be hampered by the slow rise of water level.
