Tonle Sap illegal fishers curbed

The Fisheries Ministry said yesterday that large-scale illegal fishing was no longer an issue on the Tonle Sap river and lake, thanks to continuing enforcement efforts. However, the ministry’s secretary of state Nao Thuk admitted that villagers often reverted to their old ways of using illegal gear or overfishing when enforcement officers were not there.
 

“Now when we deploy our patrol team, with the inter-ministerial staff and especially the police, large-scale illegal fishing stopped,” he said on the sidelines of an event in Phnom Penh yesterday. “For the moment it is not an issue but when we leave, the villagers continue illegal fishing so we need to constantly monitor it,” he added.
 

He said this after speaking at the launch of the “Wonders of the Mekong project,” a collaboration involving USAID, the University of Nevada and the Cambodian government to improve conservation efforts on the Mekong River. Despite the government not making any specific pledge or policy change for the cause, he insisted that they were committed to ensuring the preservation of the marine-rich river.

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