Phnom Penh Post
20 March 2014
Already under attack by overfishing, pollution and deforestation, Tonle Sap Lake fisheries face an even bigger threat in the form of hydropower dams, according to experts.
Laos’ planned Don Sahong Hydropower Project in particular has environmentalists fearing an emptier, less bio-diverse lake, and a nation pitched into protein shortages.
“[The Don Sahong] is of particular concern because it will obstruct the only fish migration channel available at Khone Falls in the dry season,” said Eric Baran, director of the World Fish Centre’s Greater Mekong Office.
At least 32 fish species are known to migrate between the Tonle Sap Lake and the Upper Mekong through the Khone Falls, just north of the Laos-Cambodian Border where the Don Sahong would be built, according to fish experts.