Families Feel Squeeze From Tonle Sap Lake Fishing Net Ban

Villagers here, who are ethnically Khmer or Vietnamese, depend on the fish for daily survival.

10 September 2012
Say Mony, VOA Khmer

PURSAT Province - An ongoing ban on large fishing nets for non-commercial fishing has made life difficult for many families on the Tonle Sap lake.

Residents in the floating villages here say they rely on fish to feed their families, but they are only allowed to use nets 50 meters in length or shorter. The ban, intended to mitigate overfishing of dwindling stocks in the Tonle Sap, is seasonal, but the ban has been extended from the end of July to the end of September.

Sitting in her boat at the village of Preak, Raing Til commune, in Pursat, Chan Ry said she could once catch 40 kilograms to 50 kilograms of fish per day with larger nets hundreds of meters in length. With the shorter net required by the new regulations, she catches only a few kilograms of fish each day.

យួនខ្នាន់ខ្នាប់ ខាប់ទឹកទន្លេសាប - ដោយ សំ-វិជ្ជា

As Tonle Sap Fish Dwindle, Illegal Catches Persist

A Japanese oil company, has been granted a rights by Cambodia Tuesday, May 4, 2010, to study a survey for possible oil onshore at the basin of Tonle Sap lake (AP file photo).

Meanwhile, local officials from the Ministry of Agriculture’s fisheries administration denied such corruption takes place.

31 August 2012

Say Mony, VOA Khmer

BATTAMBANG Province - Despite a government cancellation of commercial fishing lot permission across the expansive Tonle Sap lake, fishing communities here say bribery of corrupt local officials have meant the illegal practice is actually increasing.

The ban was meant to decrease the rapid overfishing of the lake, a major source of food for much of the country, which has seen its stocks dwindle in recent years.

Mao Penh, the head of a fishing community at the floating village of Preak Tol, in Koh Chiveng commune, Battambang provnce, told VOA Khmer that law enforcement officials are “colluding” with illegal fishing operations.

“One side takes money and closes its eyes, while the other goes illegally fishing,” he said, speaking from his floating home on the lake. “It’s fifty-fifty. That’s what’s happening in my village nowadays.”

Tropical storm kills 3 Cambodian fisherman, authorities warn of heavy rains this week

July 24, 2012
The Associated Press

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia - Three Cambodian fishermen were killed when their boat capsized due to strong winds and rain caused by Tropical Storm Vincente.

Authorities say the men's bodies were pulled from the Tonle Sap lake on Wednesday in Pursat province, northwest of the capital, Phnom Penh.

Local governor Khoy Sokha says the men were among seven people fishing in a boat Tuesday when the storm struck and flipped the boat. Four others were rescued.

Cambodian authorities have warned that heavy rains could last through Thursday due to Vincente, which has been downgraded from a typhoon to a tropical storm.

Life in Chong Khneas, Siem Reap

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCBNR8tz9Gg

A Cambodia shaped by water, history and resilience

Houses in Kampong Phluk, Cambodia, are built on stilts to withstand the ebb and flow of the monsoon seasons. (BEN KUCINSKI/FLICKR)

A woman fried cakes of whole shrimp and rice flour in the village of Kampong Phluk, Cambodia. (Stephen Heuser/Globe Staff)

July 15, 2012
By Stephen Heuser
The Boston Globe Staff

KAMPONG PHLUK — The water around our boat is so opaque with yellow clay that I worry my hand will vanish if I dip it in. The boat itself is made of wooden planks sealed with resin, driven by an engine that looks like nothing I have ever seen, a propeller trailing far behind the stern on a rickety metal frame. Our pilot is 13, or might be, but I can’t really ask him over the noise.

But none of this is the interesting part. The interesting part, the reason we endured the hourlong scooter ride and all the dirt roads to get here, is rolling past us on the banks of this river, where the life of a village is unfolding 20 feet above our heads.

Children in their high stilt houses kick their legs out the front doors, dangling them precariously in the air. Bits of laundry, beaten as clean as it gets in yellow-clay water, hang on crossbars to dry. And on the water below, traffic moves around us: small launches, hand-paddled rafts, a floating fish farm.

សា​លា​រៀន​វៀត​ណាម​...! - Viet school adorned by CPP protection signs

សា​លា​រៀន​បណ្តែត​ទឹក​នៅ​លើ​បឹង​ទន្លេ​សាប​ ​មាន​សរ​សេរ​​អក្ស​រវៀត​ណាម និង​​មាន​បិទ​រូប​ថត ​មេ​ដឹក​នាំ​ជាន់​ខ្ពស់​គណ​បក្ស​ប្រជា​​ជន​កម្ពុជា​អម​សង​ខាង នៅ​សង្កាត់​ចុង​ឃ្នាស​ ក្រុង​សៀម​រាប ​កាល​ពី​ចុង​ខែ​មុន​។ មាន​សេច​ក្តី​រាយ​ការណ៍​ថា នៅ​ក្នុង​ការ​បោះ​ឆ្នោត​ឃុំ​-សង្កាត់ កាល​ពី​ថ្ងៃ​ទី ៣ ខែ​មិថុនា​កន្លង​មក នៅ​សង្កាត់​ចុង​ឃ្នាស មាន​ជន​ជាតិ​វៀត​ណាម​រាប់​រយ​នាក់ បាន​ចូល​រួម​បោះ​ឆ្នោត​។ បញ្ហា​និគម​ជន​ជាតិ​វៀត​ណាម​គឺ​ជា​រឿង​រសើប​មួយ ហើយ​តែង​ជា​របៀប​វា​រៈ​សំខាន់​ សម្រាប់គណ​បក្ស​ប្រឆាំង​​ ធ្វើ​ការ​វាយ​ប្រហារ​ ទៅ​លើ​គណ​បក្ស​ប្រជា​ជន​។ រូប​ថត ជី​វ័ន
Floating Viet school on the Tonle Sap displaying sign in Vietnamese adorned by photos of CPP leaders. The school is located in Chong Khneas commune, Siem Reap city. Report had indicated that during the recent 03 June 2012 commune election, 100 Vietnamese citizens voted there. Problem with Vietnamese immigrants is a sensitive issue that generated attacks by the opposition on the ruling CPP party. (Photo: Heng Chivoan, The Phnom Penh Post)

ផ្ទះ​វៀត​ណាម​សង់​លើ​​ទន្លេ​ខ្មែរ​​? - Viet floating houses on Khmer lake

ផ្ទះ​បណ្តែត​ទឹក​ដែល​ត្រូវ​គេ​ប្រាប់​ថា មាន​​ប្រហែល​រាប់​ពាន់​ ​ភាគ​ច្រើន​ជា​ផ្ទះ​​និគម​ជន​ជាតិ​វៀត​ណាមនៅ​​ខាង​ចុង​នៃ​ស្ទឹង​សង្កែ ​ជាប់​​បឹង​​ទន្លេ​សាប​ក្នុង​​ភូមិ​ព្រែក​ទាល់ ឃុំ​កោះ​ជី​វាំងស្រុក​ឯក​ភ្នំ​ ខេត្ត​បាត់​ដំបង​។ រដ្ឋាភិបាល​កម្ពុជាត្រូវ​​គេ​ចោទ​ថា បាន​និងកំពុងធ្វើ​មិន​ដឹង​មិន​ឮ និ​ង​​បាន​​បណ្តែត​បណ្តោយ​​ឲ្យ​ជន​ជាតិ​វៀត​ណាម​ចូល​មក​តាំង​ទី​លំនៅ​យ៉ាង​ច្រើន​សម្បើម​នៅ​កម្ពុជា​ទាំង​លើ​ទឹក​ទាំង​លើ​គោក​។ រូប​ថត ជី​វ័ន
Thousands of Viet floating houses on the Sangker River, next to the Tonle Sap River, in Prek Toal village, Koh Chiveang commune, Ek Phnom district, Battambang province. The Phnom Penh regime is accused of ignoring and alloving Vietnamese to settle in large number in Cambodia, both on land and on waters. (Photo: Heng Chivoan, The Phnom Penh Post)

សូម​កុំ​ឈ្លោះ​គ្នា ដោយ​សារ​តែ​នៅ​បក្ស​ផ្សេង​គ្នា! - Don't fight one another just because you belong to different party!

27 June 2012
ភ្នំពេញប៉ុស្តិ៍

ផ្ទះ​​បណ្តែត​ទឹក នៅ​លើ​បឹង​ទន្លេ​សាប ក្នុង​ឃុំ​កោះ​ជីវាំង ស្រុក​ឯក​ភ្នំ​ខេត្ត​បាត់​ដំបង ​មាន​លើក​ស្លាក​គណ​បក្ស​ប្រជា​ជន​កម្ពុជា និង​គណ​បក្ស​សម​រង្ស៊ី ដែល​នៅ​ឃ្លាត​ពី​គ្នា​ប្រមាណ​ជា​ ១០០ ម៉ែត្រ​។ កាល​ពី​មុន​គេ​តែង​តែ​ឮកើត​មាន​ជម្លោះ​ជា​ញឹក​ញាប់​ រវាង​អ្នក​ដែល​គាំ​ទ្រ​គណ​បក្ស​កាន់​អំណាច​ និង​គណ​បក្ស​ប្រឆាំង ប៉ុន្តែ​បច្ចុប្បន្ន ហាក់​បី​ដូច​ជា​មាន​ការ​ថយ​ចុះ​ច្រើន​ហើយ​​ មិន​សូវ​ឮ​មាន​ជម្លោះ​ច្រើន​ទៀត​ទេ។ រូប​ថត ហេង ជី​វ័ន

Floating houses on the Tonle Sap at Koh Chivain commune, Ek Phnom district, Battambang province, display SPR and CPP party signs. The two houses are located about 100-meter from one another. In the past, constant fighting took place between ruling party and opposition party supporters, but now, this seems to quiet down. (Photo: Heng Chivoan)

អ្នក​នៅ​លើ​បឹង​ទន្លេ​សាប​ចោល​សំរាម​គ្មាន​ការ​ទទួល​ខុស​ត្រូវ

​ភូមិ​បណ្តែត​ទឹក​ជន​ជាតិ​វៀត​ណាម នៅលើ​ផ្ទៃ​ទឹក​បឹង​ទន្លេ​សាប នៅ​ឃុំ​ចុង​ឃ្នាស ក្នុង​ខេត្ត​សៀម​រាប​។ រូបថត ភ្នំ​ពេញ​ ប៉ុស្តិ៍

Tuesday, 13 March 2012
លាង ប៊ុនណា
លិខិត​មិត្តអ្នកអាន
The Phnom Penh Post

កាល​ពី​ថ្ងៃ​ទី ៣០ មករា ឆ្នាំ​ ២០១២ ខ្ញុំ បាន​ទៅ​លេង​ភូមិ​បណ្តែត​ទឹក​មួយ​ នៅ​បឹង​ទន្លេ​សាប​។ វាស្ថិត​នៅ​តាម​បណ្តោយ​ផ្លូវ​ជាតិ​លេខ ​៦ ចម្ងាយ​ប្រមាណ​ ៥០ ​គ.ម​ ពី​ក្រុង​សៀម​រាប នៅ​តាម​ផ្លូវ​ទៅ​រាជ​ធានី​ភ្នំពេញ។​

កំពង់​ឃ្លាំង​ជា​តំបន់​ទេសចរណ៍​ធម្មជាតិ​មួយ ដែល​ជា​រឿយ​ៗ ​ត្រូវ​បាន​ជន​​បរទេស​ ទៅ​ទស្សនា​។ ខ្ញុំ​បាន​ទៅ​​លេង​ទី​នេះ​ជា​ច្រើន​ដង​មក​ហើយ ទាំង​នៅ​រដូវ​ប្រាំង និង​រដូវ​ស្សា​។ កន្លែង​នេះ មាន​អ្វី​ខុស​ប្លែក​​ អាស្រ័យ​លើ​ពេល​ដែល​អ្នក​មក​លេង​។ នៅ​​រដូវ​វស្សា នៅ​ពេល​ដែល​ទឹក​ទន្លេ​មេគង្គ​ឡើង​ បឹង​ទន្លេ​សាប​ មាន​ផ្ទៃ​ទឹក​ធំ​ជាង​ធម្មតា​រហូត​ដល់​ ៣ ដង ធ្វើ​ឲ្យ​តំបន់​ទេសចរណ៍​កំពង់​ឃ្លាំង​កាន់​តែ​មាន​ភាព​ទាក់​ទាញ​។ ​បឹង​ទន្លេ​សាប ជា​បឹង​មួយ​ ក្នុង​ចំណោម​បឹង​ធំ​បំផុត​ជា​ច្រើន​ នៅ​អាស៊ី​។​ ភូមិ​ទាំង​អស់​ ដែល​ស្ថិត​នៅ​តាម​ផ្ទៃ​បឹង​នេះ ​ត្រូវ​ទឹកជន់​លិច ​ជាង​នេះ​ទៅ​ទៀត​ រហូត​ដល់​លិច​ផ្ទះ​ឈើ​ខ្ពស់​ៗ​ទៀត​ផង​។ ពលរដ្ឋ​ភាគ​ច្រើន ​​ស្នាក់​នៅ​ក្នុង​ផ្ទះ ហើយ​បាន​ចេញ​មក​លេង​អ្នក​ជិត​ខាង​ដោយ​ជិះ​ទូក​​។ សិស្ស​សាលា ​ដូច​តែ​គ្នា​​សុទ្ធ​តែ​ជិះ​ទូក​តូច​ៗ​ ទៅ​សាលា​រៀន​។ មិន​មាន​ការ​ធ្វើ​ដំណើរ​ទៅ​កន្លែង​ឆ្ងាយ​ៗ​ច្រើន​ទេ​។

តាម​ការ​អង្កេត​របស់​ខ្ញុំ​ ពី​ដំណើរ​ទស្សនកិច្ច​លើក​ចុង​ក្រោយ​របស់​ខ្ញុំ​ នៅ​រដូវ​ប្រាំង​ កន្លែង​ដែល​មាន​អនាម័យ​គឺ​មិន​មាន​ទេ​។ ​​ផ្ទះ​ភាគ​ច្រើន មិន​មាន​បង្គន់​ទេ​។ ពួក​គេ បន្ទោ​បង់​​ និង​បាន​ចោល​សំរាម​ទៅ​ក្នុង​ទឹក​។ ការ​បោះ​ចោល​សំរាម ដែល​មិន​មាន​ការ​ទទួល​ខុស​ត្រូវ​ គេ​អាច​មើល​ឃើញ​នៅ​រដូវ​ប្រាំង​ក្នុង​ពេល​ទឹក​ស្រក​។ សំរាម​ប្លាស្ទិក​ មាន​នៅ​គ្រប់​កន្លែង​នៅ​ពេញ​ភូមិ​។ ពល​រដ្ឋ​ ត្រូវ​ការ​ឲ្យ​គេ​ជូន​ដំណឹង​ឲ្យ​បាន​ច្បាស់​ថា ​កាក​សំណល់​ប្លាស្ទិក​ទាំង​នេះ មិន​រលាយ​ទេ​។ កំប៉ុង​ប្លាស្ទិក​ នៅ​ជាប់​បាន​យូរ​ និង​បាន​បំផ្លាញ​បរិស្ថាន​ផង​ដែរ ដែល​ជីវិត​របស់​ពួក​គេ​ ពឹង​យ៉ាង​ខ្លាំង​លើ​វា​។ កាក​សំណល់​ប្លាស្ទិក​ មិន​ត្រឹម​តែ​ជា​បញ្ហា​បរិស្ថាន​ប៉ុណ្ណោះ​ទេ ប៉ុន្តែ​វា​ថែម​ទាំង​ក្លាយ​ជា​បញ្ហា​ជាតិ​មួយ​ក្នុង​ចំណោម​បញ្ហា​ជា​ច្រើន​ ផង​ដែរ​។

Life in Snok Tru, Hun Xen's Nambodia where the use of Khmer is NOT encouraged

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOWiwQQ4xHo

Kampong Chhnang city still under flood water

All Photos: Koh Santepheap News

WORLD FROM SPACE: Floods In Cambodia

Part of the Tonle Sap on 18 October 2011

Part of the Tonle Sap on 26 October 2006

Sat Oct 22, 2011
By Paul Vaughan
Irish Weather Online

A series of tropical storms and heavy monsoon rains combined to make 2011 the worst flood season on the lower Mekong River since 2000. Floods swept across Cambodia, impacting 17 of the country’s 24 provinces. To date, at least 207 people have died in the floods and 34,000 families have been evacuated, said the Cambodian Red Cross.

These images compare seasonal flooding along the Mekong River and the Tonle Sap on October 18, 2011, and October 26, 2006. Taken by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Aqua and Terra satellites, the images include both infrared and visible light to increase the contrast between water and land. Water is black or dark blue, while the surrounding plant-covered land is green. Clouds are pale blue and white. Both the Tonle Sap and the Sen River flood Kompong Thom, one of the most severely impacted provinces in Cambodia. The Mekong River is also swollen in 2011 compared to 2006.

Nicolas Axelrod's 24hrs: Fishing two rivers

24hrs - Fishing two rivers from Nicolas Axelrod on Vimeo.

After 20 years of living on a five-meter boat, Yousuf and his wife Isma have never seen the fish stocks so low. Only a few years ago the family was able to earn more than twice as much as they do today. With their current daily income of 5 – 10 dollars, Yousuf and Isma support their nephew as well as their three sons, two of whom live with their grandmother in the family’s home province of Kandal. “The fish stock are lower because the water is shallow” Isma explains, “when the water levels are high the fish migrate to the shallows, and when the water drops again the fish migrate back. If the water levels are shallow, the fish do not migrate.” 

Yousuf and Isma live a semi-nomadic life moving around the Tonle Sap and Mekong river area from shore to shore. They used to dock their boat permanently on Koh Pich Island before investors decided to develop the island. The community, made up of approximately 20 boats, was forced to move. At the moment, the manager of a ferry terminal allows them to stay nearby for most of the year. “We are often told to move from here,” says Isma, “especially during the water festival and when high-ranking officials visit the area.”

They live in the area where the two rivers meet, and fish in several different shallow parts of the two waterways, occasionally moving to follow migrating fish and staying a couple of days in different areas.

Yousuf and Isma along with the 20 other boats that make up the community are all Cham, a South East Asian ethnic group. With roots in the ancient Kingdom of Champa, the Cambodian Cham are mainly Muslim. Islam makes up less than one percent of the Cambodian population, which is predominantly Buddhist. The Cham tend to live in their own towns or areas within larger cities.

Though they are happy in the constant motion of the waves and travelling everyday in their floating home, raising a family on a boat is not easy. Yousuf and Isma lost two children who drowned after falling off the boat. “That is why I don’t want to live on the river” she says. She would also like to live in the same place all year round and see her children grow up and go to school like other children. In the mean time, they fish many different areas around the Mekong and Tonle Sap, where the two rivers meet. 

For additional photos and multi-media videos by Nick, please visit:
http://www.nicolasaxelrod.com/

"The reasons why Hun Xen banned fishery licenses" - Opinion by Anonymous

 

Thousands Of Homes Flooded In Cambodia

Satellite photo on August 13, 2011

Satellite photo on August 16, 2010

Wed Aug 17, 2011
By Mark Dunphy
Irish Weather Online

Heavy rains pushed the Mekong River in Cambodia over its banks during the weekend, flooding 37 villages and damaging over 5,000 homes. Schools also were closed, and rice and cassava crops have been badly affected.

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite captured the top image on August 13, 2011. For comparison, the bottom image shows the same region a year earlier, on August 16, 2010. Both images use a combination of visible and infrared light to increase contrast between water and land. Water ranges in color from electric blue to navy. Vegetation is green. Clouds are pale blue-green.

Despite cloud cover, significant changes are apparent along the Mekong River between 2010 and 2011. In 2010, the river is a thin blue line extending southward toward Phnum Penh (Phnom Penh). In 2011, flood water spans kilometers north of the city. Higher water is also apparent south of Phnum Penh, and around Tônlé Sab (Tonle Sap).

Fishing licenses around Cambodia's Tonle Sap Lake revoked [-Hun Xen just woke after all the fish resources are already destroyed?]

August 16, 2011

PHNOM PENH (Xinhua) -- Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said Tuesday he has cancelled the licenses of all 35 fishing lots around Tonle Sap Lake in five provinces, saying that the lots have caused a great destruction to the country's fish resources.

The license revocation was made after the premier's public announcement on July 1 to sack fishery chiefs in five provinces around Tonle Sap Lake in order to make way for an investigation into fishery offences.

The five provinces around the lake are Battambang, Kampong Chhnang, Pursat, Siem Reap and Kampong Thom.

"After the investigation, we found that fishing lot operators had used banned fishing nets to catch the fish, they caught even small fish; moreover, they used chemical substance to drive fish away from flooded forest into their lots in order to catch them," he said.

"It's a great destruction to the fish resources," he said. "The suspension of fishing in the Lake will be in effective at least 3 years in order to increase fish population."

The premier added that despite their great destruction to the fish resources, the government has not taken any fishing lot operators or fisheries officials to court for punishment.

Vietnamese-Americans voice gospel to villagers on Cambodian Lake

Albert Barajas, 36, a dentist from Dallas, trains an 11-year-old to sterilize equipment during a dental clinic in a floating village on Cambodia's Tonle Sap Lake. (IMB PHOTOS)

Kristy Harless, Gina Nguyen and Lynne Leung visit boat-to-boat to assess medical needs in the floating village of Kbal Taol on Cambodia's Tonle Sap Lake. (IMB PHOTOS)

June 23, 2011
By Staff
International Mission Board

KBAL TAOL, Cambodia—For a moment, Josh Nguyen thought he was back in Vietnam. Rubbing the wooden floor of a floating home in this remote village on Cambodia’s Tonle Sap Lake, the 44-year-old physician from Houston remembered the country he left as a refugee in 1975.

Nguyen joined a team of nine other medical and dental volunteers working with the Vietnamese living in floating villages on Cambodia’s Tonle Sap Lake, the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia. He and three nurses divided into two groups and visited from boat to boat, assessing medical needs and sharing the Gospel. Nguyen, who speaks Vietnamese, also translated for the nurse who assisted him.

The trip was revealing to Nguyen, who saw himself not only in the floorboards but also in the faces and experiences of those he met on the lake.

Farmers Watch as Tonle Sap Authority Crushes Reservoirs

Pich Samnang, VOA Khmer
Kampong Thom, Cambodia Thursday, 05 August 2010

The machines had come to tear down more than 10 reservoirs local farmers had built to capture the receding waters of the swollen Tonle Sap lake.

“I was very disappointed with the destruction of my reservoir.”

One morning in early July, about a dozen bulldozers and excavators came to Msa Krong commune where Kong Heuv lives, about 50 kilometers outside Kampong Thom provincial town.

The machines had come to tear down more than 10 reservoirs local farmers had built to capture the receding waters of the swollen Tonel Sap lake.

“I was very disappointed with the destruction of my reservoir,” said the 67-year-old farmer, as he walked along the flattened dam one recent day.

“If I were rich, this would not be a problem,” he told VOA Khmer. “But I am still in debt due to the construction of the reservoir.”

The government has been tearing down these kinds of reservoirs since late June, under the new Tonle Sap Authority, which has a mandate to protect the flooded forests around the great lake.

There are about 1 million hectares of these forests around the lake; nearly 400,000 hectares have been destroyed already. Since 2002, villagers have been expanding their farmlands, while business owners have looked for other means to catch fish as the water recedes each year.

Kong Heuv said he spent about $5,500 two years ago to keep water for his rice paddies during the dry season.

“I don’t know how to deal with my debt now that I can’t work on the paddies I depend on,” he said.

Chan Yuttha, secretary general of the Tonle Sap Authority, said 35 of 239 reservoirs have now been destroyed across six provinces.

“And there will be no compensation for any loss of the reservoirs, because they were all built illegally,” he said.

Tri Horn, chief of Msa Krong commune, said the destruction of the reservoirs is good for the sustainability of the flooded forests. But, he acknowledged that the dismantling some of the small ones owned by poor farmers in his commune has caused problems for them.

“They borrowed the money from banks to build those reservoirs, so they are now in debt,” he said in an interview at this house. “Some almost want to commit suicide due to the debt.”

Most of the 9,000 people in his commune depend on farming, while a smaller number need the reservoirs for dry-season fishing, he said.

“In addition to keeping water for farming, the building of reservoirs is also meant to catch fish,” said Lim Kean Hor, Minister of Water Resources and head of the Tonle Sap Authority.

The reservoirs are especially problematic in Kampong Thom province, where they are built consecutively and impede the flow of the river, he said.

“So, all of the remaining reservoirs around the great lake will be dismantled to preserve the lake,” he said.

Fishermen Say They Are Forced Into Illegal Catches

Pich Samnang, VOA Khmer
Washington, DC Thursday, 29 July 2010

“If we didn’t do it, we would have nothing to eat,” he said, looking at fishing nets hanging on a nearby wall. “Fishing is our farming here.”

Local fishermen on the Tonle Sap lake in the province of Battambang say they continue to fish illegally during the off-season.

In interviews with VOA Khmer, the fishermen said they have no choice but to continue fishing, sometimes with banned equipment, in order to feed their families, despite a three-month ban instituted by the government that begins each July.

“The ban is like breaking our rice pot,” said 53-year-old fisherman Chhun Leang.

He sat in a wooden house on the great lake, in the floating village of Anlung Ta Our, in Ek Phnom district, and when boats passed their wakes shook his home.

“Unlike the people on land who are farmers, we fishermen have no land for farming,” he said. “We only depend on fishing.”

Commercial fishing for the next three months is forbidden. This is the breeding season. Small nets and handmade gear are allowed, but fishermen like Chhun Leang say that isn't enough.

He earns about $250 a month, working a medium-sized net rig that is banned this time a year. Even if these were permitted, he said, these days he barely catches enough fish to feed his family.

“So despite the ban, myself and other fishermen in the commune still secretly fish with our rigging,” he said. There are crackdowns, he said, but he keeps fishing. “Otherwise, we cannot survive.”

His neighbor five houses down, Yon Phann, agreed.

“If we didn’t do it, we would have nothing to eat,” he said, looking at fishing nets hanging on a nearby wall. “Fishing is our farming here.”

More than 70 percent of the 10,000 people living in this commune, Koh Chi Verng, are fishermen. The rest sell goods or repair boats.

Commune Chief Bun Beng said that every year people face hard times during the three-month ban, so at times he turns a blind eye to some illegal fishing.

“They can catch just a kilo or two of fish a day, and they sell it for rice to eat,” he said in an interview at his own floating house. “This is all they can do here because we have no rice to harvest.”

On the other hand, he said, he advises people not to use heavy rigging during the ban, and he encourages them to breed fish and raise eels to supplement their catches.

Nao Thuok, head of Agriculture Ministry’s fishery administration, said there is no exception for any particular fishing community in the use of banned gear this season.

“Any such act will be cracked down on,” he said. “This is according to the law, which must be implemented to benefit all the people across the country, not just that particular community or a small number of others.”

“All floating communities around the Tonle Sap should only fish for family consumption during this ban season,” he said, “so that more fish can breed for them to catch at the end of the season.”