Fishermen carp about ban on catching baby fish in Vietnam

Vietnam Net Bridge Nguyen Huu Hai, a fisherman in An Giang Province’s Vinh Hoi Dong Commune, told Tuoi tre (Youth) newspaper that the provincial authority has banned all fishing activities on the Tien and Hau rivers between early June and late August. The ban aims to protect species, such as blue-legged shrimps and cyprinid fish from being eradicated during the rainy season. Since early Read More…

Fishery crimes revealed

The Phnom Penh Post More than 300 fishery crimes were identified during the month of July around the Tonle Sap region and more than 3,000 fish were released back into the water, an official said yesterday. Hong Hy, spokesman for the Fisheries Administration Department, said the department cooperated with local authorities to crack down on 311 fishery crimes, confiscating several pieces of Read More…

The Point of No Return

The Phnom Penh Post The Tonle Sap is “doomed”. The ecosystem of the gigantic lake – whose annual flood cycle has been the pulse of Cambodia for millennia, and on which millions depend for food and irrigation – is set to spectacularly collapse, throwing into question everything from Cambodia’s food security, to its economy, to its demographics. At least, that is, if drastic measures Read More…

World Ranger Day: Thailand Tourism celebrates and honors

eTurboNews Over one thousand rangers of Thailand’s national parks gathered in a ceremony today at Khao Yai National Park to mark World Ranger Day. The Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) host the annual event attended by senior government agency representatives and the conservation NGOs who work with Thailand’s rangers to protect Thailand’s natural Read More…

Big wildlife bust yields 300 kilos in Kampong Chhnang

The Phnom Penh Post Kampong Chhnang provincial authorities on Saturday intercepted and seized a truck loaded with 300 kilograms of live snakes and tortoises, though the wildlife traders managed to escape, a provincial Forestry Administration official said yesterday. Thorng Vandy Ravuthy, director of the Forestry Administration, said the live animals included 65 snakes, weighing 212 Read More…

A wetland laid to waste

The Phnom Penh Post Fires tore through the Tonle Sap wetlands last year, destroying an estimated third of the seasonally flooded forests that surround the lake. The loss of the trees, which are breeding grounds for freshwater fish, poses an existential threat to the area’s ecology and to the livelihoods of local villagers, who are taking stock a year after the disaster. Sitting in her Read More…

Experts predict Mekong dry season to be severe

VietNamNet Bridge Mekong Delta farmers experienced the worst dry season in history in 2016, and are now  facing another severe season in 2017. A report from the General Department of Irrigation shows that in the 2016 dry season, farmers in the southern part of the central region had to stop cultivating 23,000 hectares of rice because of the lack of water. The drought affected 43,000 hectares Read More…

What’s at stake in China’s plan to blow up islands in the Mekong

The Conversation by Alan Marshall, Mahidol University The pla beuk is a beautiful behemoth; a gigantic toothless catfish with skin smooth and silky to the touch. It’s the largest freshwater fish in the world and, once upon a time, these fish swam the great lengths of the mighty Mekong River from southern China, through Burma, Laos, Thailand, and Cambodia, all the way to the river’s delta Read More…

Cambodia’s Lower Sesan 2 Dam Reservoir used to launder illegal…

Radio Free Asia A company owned by business magnate Kith Meng is using its license to clear a reservoir for the Lower Sesan 2 hydropower dam in Cambodia’s Stung Treng province as a cover to launder illegally logged timber, according to a report by the country’s police force. Ang & Associates Lawyers, a subsidiary of Kith Meng’s Royal Group, has been logging timber from areas outside Read More…

Mekong Delta faces increased risk of landslides as sediment loss…

VietNamNet Bridge Every year, 55 million tons of sediment is lost from the rivers in Mekong Delta, 90 percent of which is sand. Nguyen Huu Thien, an independent expert, said the Mekong Delta has been taking shape for the last 6,000 years thanks to alluvial accretion. But the volume of sediment in the river and canal system has decreased gradually, leading to an increased risk of landslides. The Read More…