Khmer Times –
The Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry has set up a technical working group to implement a project to facilitate fish migration in the lower Mekong basin.
The technical working group, composed of ten officials, was created in early November but was only announced last week. The group is aiming to prevent fish from migrating to neighbouring countries.
The group is tasked with holding discussions regarding the issue, monitoring fish migration, and evaluating environmental impacts of development projects.
Ministry undersecretary of state Khun Savoeun yesterday said the first agenda of the working group is to create ideal fish passages and prevent fish from migrating to neighbouring countries. In addition, the project will also aim to stabilise the fish population.
“In the past, our fishery officials were concerned about fish flowing to other countries. So we had to find a method to prevent fish from migrating,” Mr Savoeun said. “Through the construction of a ‘fish ladder’, we can hope that fish will swim towards the upper parts of a dam.”
“If we can provide good passage for fish, we can encourage reproduction,” he added. “In turn, we will have a large supply of fish to meet the needs of our people – and there will also be rare species of fish too.”