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.

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.”

Over fishing [by illegal Viet fishermen]: Fears over island fish stocks

Thursday, 28 July 2011
Sen David
The Phnom Penh Post

Over fishing

VILLAGERS on Koh Kyong island in Preah Sihanouk province are preparing a complaint over more than 300 allegedly unlicensed fishermen who they say are illegally operating in local waters.

Loung Bunny, chief of the Association for Natural Protection in Ochroy commune, said yesterday that fishermen from Vietnam’s Phú Quoc island and provinces around Cambodia were threatening local livelihoods. “Vietnamese fishermen use their modern, mechanised boats to fish [without permission] in this commune” he said. “We are collecting thumbprints for the villagers to file a complaint to the local authorities and the Fisheries Administration in early August.” Fisherwoman from Koh Kyong island, 47-year-old Eang Hern, said yesterday her daily earnings had dropped from 50,000 riels (US$12) three months ago to 20,000 riels due to overfishing.

But Duong Sam Ath, chief of the provincial Fisheries Administration , yesterday denied any unlicensed Vietnamese fishermen were operating in the area.

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.”

Illegal fishing on the rise in Cambodia

Tuesday, August 12, 2008
ABC Radio Australia

Cambodian fishieries officials say illegal fishing is on the rise this year thanks to widespread flooding, which has made it easier for rogue anglers to use underbrush as cover from authorities.

The Phnom Penh Post quotes an NGO, the Fishery Action Coalition Team, which says officials are sending patrol boats into Cambodia's flooded forests and fields.

Fish are a major source of protein in the Cambodian diet, and fishing is not permitted from June to September, north of the capital Phnom Penh.

South of the capital it's banned from July to October to let fish spawn and replenish.

Fishing Communities Eying Parties

Vietnamese floating village on the Tonle Sap

By Ros Sothea, VOA Khmer
Original report from Kampong Chhnang Province
01 June 2008

[Editor's note: In the weeks leading into national polls, VOA Khmer will explore a wide number of election issues. The "Election Issues 2008" series will air stories on Tuesday and Wednesday, followed by a related "Hello VOA" guest on Thursday. This is the second in a two-part series examining the fate of the Tonle Sap.]

Cambodia’s fishing villagers are looking for political parties to serve their lifelong fishing careers.

As the national election approaches, fishermen of Chhok Trou district, Kampong Chhnang province, said they were facing declining conditions, and are looking for change.

“For this general election, I will vote for any political party who provides me certain promises,” said Ky Try, a 31-year-old fisherman, his voice rising. “If [a candidate] wins the election and still ignores the fishing problem, I can vote to drop him from power anytime.”

According to local authorities, 90 percent of eligible villagers in Chhnok Trou have registered to vote. During the election campaign, which will begin in the middle of June, political parties usually make many promises to attract votes.

But many fishermen in Chhnok Trou said they don’t care much about promises; they will keep looking for actions instead.

“I will vote for the party that can fulfill the demands of fishermen, and I will keep looking even after the election,” said 60-year-old Sath Kosal.

In response to villagers’ concerns, the representative of for biggest political party in Chhnok Trou, Long Sokhom of the opposition Sam Rainsy Party, claimed to have prepared various strategies to combat illegal fishing in an effort to help the fishermen.

Human Rights Party representative Saing Sarath said he would seek to prevent Vietnamese fishermen from infringing on Tonle Sap fishing.

The ruling Cambodian People’s Party, which has been in power for more than three decades, claimed it would do its best to strengthen measures to help fishermen.

Funcinpec representative Chhem Seng Hak said his party had no policy on fishing.

Tonle Sap Failing Fishermen

By Ros Sothea, VOA Khmer
Original report from Kampong Chhnang Province
01 June 2008

[Editor's note: In the weeks leading into national polls, VOA Khmer will explore a wide number of election issues. The "Election Issues 2008" series will air stories on Tuesday and Wednesday, followed by a related "Hello VOA" guest on Thursday. This is the first in a two-part series examining the fate of the Tonle Sap.]

The decline in the number of fish in the Tonle Sap is threatening Cambodia’s fishing villages, and experts worry large numbers will continue to fall if no clear measures are taken to curb illegal fishing.

Fishing villagers in Chhnok Trou, Kampong Chhnang province, say fish have declined 50 percent in recent years. The drop was due to the use of illegal fishing implements, they say.

Un Phala, 55, said before 2005 her fish haul could reach up to hundreds of kilograms per day, but this year she and her family can’t find fish beyond 6 kilograms per day.

“The fisheries are being ruined from day to day, and I am worried that there will be no more fish in the future,” she said, stitching a net under an old wooden house. “We are getting poorer, and some people, they have nothing to eat.”

Chhnok Trou is the largest fishing area in Kampong Chhnang, some 130 kilometers from the capital. About 90 percent of the population of 10,000 are fishermen who live in poverty. Their small wooden houses sit on water littered with debris.

Sam Rith Peng, Chhnok Trou’s commune chief, acknowledged that there were many illegal fishing implements being used in the provinces along the Tonle Sap, decreasing the fish supply each year.

Chhnok Trou fishermen caught a total of 50 tons of fish this year, compared to 100 tons last year, he said.

“This decline could badly affect people whose livings depend on fishing,” he said. “Their economy will be jumping down.”

The Tonle Sap is the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia, with the potential to produce up to 230,000 tons of fish per year. But experts say the number has been declining due to human activity.

“We can see large amounts of fish decreasing every year,” said Mak Sithirith, director of the Fishery Action Coalition Team. “So if there is no certain measure to cope with the illegal fishing equipment, fish product automatically declines, and it will affect fishing people in the future.”

Facing the decline of fish and illegal fishing methods, villagers of this community say they are looking for their elected leaders to do something, or leave their positions.

Fisheries officials summoned by the court for the murder of 3 Vietnamese

Tuesday, May 08, 2007
By Duong Sokha
Cambodge Soir
Unofficial translation from French by Tola Ek

Click here to read Cambodge Soir’s original article in French

“Those who shot were fisheries officials, and these Vietnamese were simple fishermen ... we wish that the Cambodian authorities conduct a serious investigation and that the law is applied on these officials” - Trinh Ba Cam, VN embassy spokesman, who is suddenly available to talk, but was never available to discuss about Khmer Krom issues in Vietnam in the past.

The prosecutor of the Pursat court would have asked the judge to issue a summon for the fisheries officials suspected of involvement in the 23 April shooting which killed 3 Vietnamese fishermen. A young couple and a 21-year-old man were killed by the bullets when a group of fisheries officials caught them by surprise trying to cast their nets in the protected zone which is prohibited from fishing. However, since then, the fisheries officials have all fled.

“After the incident, the prosecutor told me that he conducted an investigation on the spot and he identified 5 officials involved in the shooting. Even if the fishermen committed a crime, they should have been arrested, but not subjected to violence,” Nhuong Samroeun, an investigator for Licadho, said. Tup Chansereyvuth, the prosecutor in the case, declined to comment on this affair. “If you want to know more, come to Pursat,” he simply said. Following the incident, relatives of the victims went to burn the building of the fisheries district department office. A brother of the dead couple was arrested by the Kompong Luong commune authorities and he is now under temporary detention by the provincial justice department for criminal arson, and the destruction of properties belonging to others.

Trinh Ba Cam, the Vietnamese embassy spokesman, confided yesterday that officials from the embassy, in collaboration with the local authorities and the Ministry of Interior, went to the spot to investigate. “Those who shot were fisheries officials, and these Vietnamese were simple fishermen. It is a regrettable act, and we wish that the Cambodian authorities conduct a serious investigation and that the law is applied on these officials,” the Vietnamese diplomat said.

Nao Thourk, the director of the fisheries department, assured earlier that his officials denied being the shooters, and he also announced that he would bring lawsuit against these illegal fishermen, as well as those who burnt the fisheries office. When contacted yesterday, he said that he cannot provide an answer because he was busy in a meeting.

Fisheries administration office burn down to the ground after 3 Vietnamese fishermen shot dead

Scene at the burnt down fissheries administrative office (Photo: Thmor Keo, Koh Santepehap newspaper)

Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Koh Santepheap newspaper
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

Pursat province: A Vietnamese man among a group of 4 was arrested by the authority and sent to the court on 24 April morning. He is accused of involvement in the burning down of the fisheries administration office located in Kompong Luong commune, Krakor district, Pursat province on 23 April. The suspect name is Nguyen Giang Doeur, a 23-year-old male living in Pram village, Kompong Luong district, he is a fisherman and the son of the couple who were shot dead by fisheries officials.

According to a report from Krakor, the suspect was arrested a few hours after the incident, 3 other men in the group fled, and the 6 fisheries officials who were using thei guns in self defense also fled after shooting dead 3 Vietnamese fishermen.

Warning: the next page contains a graphical photo which may not be suited for the faint heart, please use discretion in viewing it.

The 3 dead Vietnamese fihsermen (Photo: Thmor Keo, Koh Santepheap newspaper)

On 23 April, a violence took place between fisheries officials and the fishermen. During the incident, three Vietnamese fishermen was shot dead: (1) 32-year-old male Nguyen Vang Kong who is the husband of 31-year-old Vo Thi Bong who was also shot dead, and 30-year-old male Nguyen Van Huor. The three fishermen lived in Pram village, Kompong Luong commune, Krakor district.

A fisheries official from Koh Ka’ek told us that the violence took place because a group of Vietnamese fishermen went in to set their nets in a state reserved lot near Kompong Prak village, Sna Ansa commune, Krakor district, Pursat province. When the fisheries officials, in cooperation with the Koh Ka’ek commune police, went in to prevent them from setting nets, three boats loaded with Vietnamese fishermen (each boat has a crew of 5 fishermen) started ramming the fisheries boat, the fishermen also pulled out knives, axes, and swords trying to harm the fisheries officials. Surrounded by the Vietnamese fishermen, the officials then used their guns to defend themselves. The shooting led to the death of 3 Vietnamese fishermen. After the shooting, the Vietnamese fishermen took their boats and went to the fisheries administrative office in Kompong Luong commune, and burnt it down. The blaze also destroyed the home of a villager living nearby.

On 24 April, General Mok Chito, the criminal police chief, and a number of officials went in to investigate the incident.

3 Vietnamese killed in illegal fishing stand-off in Cambodia

Tuesday April 24, 2007

(Kyodo) - Three Vietnamese were killed in a stand-off with Cambodian authorities during a raid on illegal fishing in the country's northwest province of Pursat, local police said Tuesday.

Hem Vuthy, chief of Pursat provincial police, said the confrontation began Monday morning when a group of Vietnamese fishermen attacked a five-member team from the fisheries authority cracking down on illegal fishing in protected fishing lots.

"The Vietnamese fishermen attacked the members of the authority with swords," said Hem Vuthy, referring to a report he received.

Three Vietnamese, including a woman, were soon after shot dead, he said.

After the incident, the fishery's office stationed in the province was burned down by the Vietnamese fishermen, he said.

Some hundreds of Vietnamese families have engaged in fishing in Pursat Province since the 1980s, he said.

Pursat is about 190 kilometers northwest of the capital Phnom Penh.