Government to Push Fish Farming

The government has set an annual target of producing 1.2 million tons of fish in farms within the next three years to support high local demand and to reduce the flood of imports from neighboring countries, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. Fish has traditionally been a staple for Cambodians, along with rice, and while the demand for fish has been high, supplies on the local market have been low, secretary of state Nao Thouk told reporters yesterday.
 

The market now depends on imported fish from neighboring countries, Mr. Thouk said, and that is costing ordinary people too much. “We plan by 2019 to produce up to 1.2 million tons of fish, while the amount of fish caught in the natural environment is stable at about 500,000 tons per year,” Mr. Thouk said.
 

The demand for fish per person has increased from an estimated 52.5 kilograms per year to 63 kilograms, Mr. Thouk said. The current production of 700,000 tons per year will not be enough to supply the increase in consumption in the coming years, he said. Cambodia can produce about 700,000 tons of fish per year, with 140,000 tons coming from the aquaculture sector, Mr. Thouk said.

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