A fishy situation in Cambodia’s biggest lake
Tonle Sap Lake, one of most productive fisheries in the world, is struggling to survive over-fishing and dam projects.
Phnom Penh, Cambodia - "Turn
the lights off soon, or people will see us," the young fisherman said
in a muted voice that was barely audible, even in the predawn quiet.
The sky was moonless, and it was pitch-black at 3:30am on Cambodia's Tonle Sap Lake.
"We are in the conservation zone. If they catch us, we will be in trouble," explained the fisherman.
To protect his identity, as fishing in restricted areas is punishable
by a two-year jail sentence, he asked that Al Jazeera not reveal his
name.
The Tonle Sap is one of the world's most productive freshwater fisheries and the main source of protein and fatty acids for Cambodia's roughly 15 million inhabitants.
"Outside the conservation area there are no fish, so what should I do?" the fisherman asked rhetorically.
The 28-year-old has been fishing in the Tonle Sap for more than a decade, and is well-aware of the lake's ailing health.
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There is nothing else like the Tonle Sap. It's like an inland ocean, a fish soup ... But the lake is a poster child for tragedy. |
An inland ocean
In 1858, the 19th-century explorer Henri Mouhot, best known for
popularising the ancient Cambodian temple complex of Angkor Wat among
Europeans, said the Tonle Sap "is so full of fish that, at the time of
low waters, they are crushed under boats, and rowing is often hampered
by their number".
Though Mouhot's account was likely an exaggeration, modern experts also confirm the abundance of fish in the Tonle Sap.
"There is nothing else like the Tonle Sap. It's like an inland ocean -
a fish soup," said Taber Hand, a Tonle Sap specialist and founder of
Wetlands Work, a social enterprise group.
"There are more fish by tonnage in the Tonle Sap than in both the
commercial and recreational freshwater sectors of the United States and
Canada combined. But the lake is a poster child for tragedy," said Hand.
While many factors have contributed to the decline of the Tonle Sap's
health, the source of all these problems can be attributed to human
impact on the environment.
Among the primary stresses on the lake's resources is Cambodia's rapidly growing population. With a reported annual growth rate of around 1.6 percent, Cambodia's
population is expanding at a rate more than twice of that of the US and
nearly eight times faster than that of Denmark.
According to the World Fish Center, roughly 20 kilogrammes of fish are
caught in the Tonle Sap for every inhabitant of Cambodia, making it the
most intensely fished inland body of water in the world.
The growing population led to a corresponding increase in pressure on the lake's already over-exploited fish population.
Horm Sok, a Cambodian field researcher for the environmental watchdog Conservation International, has witnessed the effects of Cambodia's population boom first hand.
"I've lived along the Tonle Sap since 1979 and have noticed a lot
less fish being caught [per fisherman]. The population has grown so much
that the fish are disappearing."
According to Sok, the number of fishermen is not the only factor
reducing the amount of fish in the lake. The type of gear they are using
has changed, too.
"People didn't used to use so much illegal equipment," Sok recounted
to Al Jazeera from his thatch-roofed research outpost on the Tonle Sap's
floodplain.
"The nets [many] people use now are too fine and too long; They catch
everything, so no small fish are left for the next seasons. Some people
use electrified nets, which is even easier, but kills everything," Sok
said.
A study in mismanagement?
One of the biggest blows to the biodiversity in Tonle Sap came from
the nationalisation of Cambodia's fisheries and the dismantling of
existing foreign-owned, industrial fishing corporations in the early
2000s.
Overseeing vast areas of private fishing grounds, the predominately
Chinese and Vietnamese-owned operations have long been resented by
small-scale Cambodian fishermen who wanted access to the fertile
fisheries the companies controlled.
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| Nationalisation of fisheries has contributed to the decline of the lake as more people are fishing in an unregulated environment [Luc Forsyth/Al Jazeera] |
Seeking to garner political support, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen
ordered the industrial operations closed and returned ownership of the
country's waterways to its people.
While perhaps an act of noble intent, the populist policy made it
impossible to enforce the majority of the environmental regulations to
which the international companies had been subject.
Though the industrial operations were responsible for harvesting vast
quantities of fish from the lake, "they worked to preserve the
ecosystem", explained Hand.
"They understood the necessity of healthy fisheries to ensure
profits, and they protected their lots by force. This angered the local
population, and so they were dismantled - but by playing to the people,
[Sen] doomed the waterscape," said Hand.
A bonanza of land-grabbing followed. The former fishing lots situated
on the Tonle Sap's floodplains were bought up piecemeal and largely
deforested for conversion into farmland, destroying the spawning grounds
of many of the lake's fish species.
"The former lots have become habitat wastelands," Hand reported.
"They're probably getting about 0.5 percent of the productivity they
used to get out of those areas."
Eang Sophallet, a spokesperson for the Cambodian ministry of
agriculture, forestry and fisheries, disputed Hand's statements, denying
that the lake faces any environmental dangers.
"Experts should … not only raise the negative points," Sophallet said in a telephone interview with Al Jazeera.
"It is better to input positive points in their analyses. We are now
processing our protection mechanisms and setting up conservation areas
to protect forests and fisheries. We are now strengthening and
maintaining the Tonle Sap," said Sophallet.
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| Dam threatens livelihood of Cambodia's poor |
In Hand's opinion, this statement carries little weight.
"Cambodia has fantastic environmental laws on paper, but no one
enforces them. There is no fisheries management, only maximisation [of
profits]," Hand claimed.
Additionally, hydropower dams, such as the controversial Lower Sesan
II, are slated for construction along the length of the Mekong River and
its tributaries, further endangering its future fertility.
The rich sediment and nutrients that flow down the Mekong before
being absorbed into the Tonle Sap provide the foundations of the lake's
food chain.
If just 11 of the dozens of proposed dams are built, International Rivers, an environmental NGO, predicts that more than 100 species of fish in the region could face extinction.
Nevertheless, Hand believes there is still a chance to revive
Cambodia's great lake if strict environmental regulations are enforced.
But he is sceptical of the human willingness to sacrifice profits for
the sake of an ecosystem.
"All the options to save the lake are present. The problem is the human priorities," said Hand.
"We could have our cake and eat it too, but people want to work for themselves instead of together."
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