Ministry working group to regulate Mekong fish migration

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 Read More…

What’s at stake for the Mekong’s fishery

The Asean Post – Originating in the Tibetan highlands and running through China, Myanmar, Thailand, Lao PDR, Cambodia, and Vietnam, the Mekong and its tributaries provide water, food and income for 60 million people. The longest river in Southeast Asia is home to the world’s largest inland fishery. It is estimated that 25 percent of the global freshwater catch is harvested from this river. Read More…

River dwellers’ way of life under threat

Khmer Times – Kampong Chhnang city, Kampong Chhnang province – Kim Heng only knows life on the water and her family of five has invested everything into their way of life here, where she owns a small floating home on the Tonle Sap river. However, her way of life is under threat as authorities move to evict thousands of Vietnamese and Cham families living on the river, citing negative Read More…

Stung Sen wetlands now a Ramsar Site

Khmer Times – The government has designated the 9,293 hectare Stung Sen, a unique wetland along the Tonle Sap, as Cambodia’s fifth Ramsar Site recognised by the Secretariat of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands through a sub-decree signed by Prime Minister Hun Sen on Friday. The site is located along the south-eastern edge of the lake. Its low-stature shrub land and surrounding natural Read More…

Lancang-Mekong countries to deepen water resources cooperation

China.org.cn – Representatives from six Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) countries passed an initiative on Friday to enhance cooperation on water resources during a forum held in Kunming, capital of southwest China's Yunnan Province. The Kunming Initiative came at the conclusion of the first Mekong-Lancang Water Resources Cooperation Forum, which aims to facilitate dialogue on water Read More…

Working to save a symbol of human-animal cooperation

Myanmar Times – Fishermen living along the Ayeyarwady River near the Mandalay-Kyauk Myaung area are so familiar with the Irrawaddy Dolphins that share their fishing grounds with, they have given the animals names. Among the most beloved are Gone Ma Gyi, Lel Waing Ma and Shwe Nyi Naung. The dolphins have earned this affection because they help the fishermen increase their Read More…

Why the Mekong matters

The Third Pole – The countries of the Mekong should build a “community of shared future”, said China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi, in December last year. The Lancang-Mekong Cooperative Framework (LMC) is “practical and highly effective”, he said. “We do not go after a high-profile ‘talk shop’, but a down-to-earth ‘bulldozer’”. China has managed to cement its influence Read More…

Raising awareness for Irrawaddy dolphins

Khmer Times – During a Dolphin Day event on Friday, the World Wide Fund for Nature said nine dolphins were born, noting that five others perished so far this year. Held in Kratie’s provincial city, the Dolphin Day event included exhibitions, photo displays, games, as well as a performances by musical artists.The event was held to garner support for freshwater dolphin habitats in the Read More…

Scientists Decode The Asian Catfish Genome

Asian Scientist – In a study published in the journal BMC Genomics, scientists in Japan and Vietnam have sequenced the genome of the striped catfish Pangasianodon hypophthalmus. P. hypophthalmus is found in the Mekong River, the longest river in Southeast Asia and the largest inland fishery in the world. Vietnam stands as the leading producer of the species, culturing an estimated 1.1 Read More…

Existing dams on the Mekong are not the root cause of fish decline,…

Mekong River Commission – Existing dams on the Mekong mainstream are not causing major impact on fish production or lowering water levels in Cambodia’s Tonle Sap River and Tonle Sap Lake, says the Mekong River Commission (MRC). Though a Mekong forum held in March this year heard that existing dams in China, Lao PDR, and Cambodia have caused “significant decline in fish stocks and even Read More…