Oxfam America

Keeping Community Fisheries Afloat in Cambodia

As Oxfam and partners are guiding fishery reform in Cambodia, they are also empowering communities to manage—and restore—a vital resource.

The Tonle Sap Lake and floodplain are home to an estimated 1.2 million people.
The Tonle Sap Lake and floodplain are home to an estimated 1.2 million people, of whom 25 percent live in floating villages with little or no access to farmland.

By: Kevin Bolton/Oxfam

The quaint fishing community of Anlong Raing bobs on the bountiful waters of the Great Tonle Sap Lake. Though the residents of this extraordinary "floating village" live in extreme poverty, they also live in peace: this is the calm after the storm.

In 2000, responding to rising tension on Cambodia's great lake, the government transferred the rights to 56 percent of fishing areas from commercial operations to poor fishing communities. But what should have been a great coup for one of Cambodia's most destitute populations had very mixed results.

The government had failed to think through the complications that would come with this over-night decision. Scattered around the lake, fisherfolk had little idea how to manage large fishing areas—areas the commercial operations were reluctant to give up.

The Cambodian government denied responsibility for the lawlessness that ensued. As they drafted and re-drafted the community fisheries sub-decree, they told fishing communities in not so many words, "You find a way to manage these waters, or we'll take them away."

With the help of Oxfam America's Sim Bunthoeun, Oxfam Great Britain, and several dedicated Oxfam allies, fishing communities across Cambodia are living up to the challenge. Today, the 22nd draft of the sub-decree is on the verge of being passed—with the fingerprints of community fisherfolk all over it.

A Controversial Resource

Perhaps the amount of debate surrounding fisheries underscores their importance. Inland fisheries in Cambodia produce 200,000 to 430,000 tons of fish each year with an estimated retail value of US $500 million. What's more, accounting for more than 75 percent of animal protein consumption, fish, along with rice, form the backbone of the Cambodian diet.

Today, a host of issues threaten Cambodian fisheries, including:

  • The use of illegal and destructive fishing methods among commercial fishers and community fishers alike;

  • Population growth that requires the creation of as many as 300,000 new jobs a year, placing unsustainable pressure on fish stocks; and

  • The lack of alternative rural livelihoods, offering communities little choice but to harvest as many fish as they can, however they can.

Oxfam’s Sim Bunthoeun, aka "Mr. Fish" (left), and Niwat Roy Kaew, Coordinator of the Chiang Khong Conservation Group in Thailand (right).
Oxfam's Sim Bunthoeun, aka "Mr. Fish" (left), and Niwat Roy Kaew, Coordinator of the Chiang Khong Conservation Group in Thailand (right). Kaew, or "Kru Tee" ("teacher") as he is fondly called, is working with Mekong communities in Thailand to help them establish fish conservation zones. These projects not only foster sound community fishing practices and local respect for resources, but they also are helping to restore a fish supply that has been depleted by dams and other development projects on the Mekong River.

By: Femy Pinto/Oxfam

Already, fisheries are showing signs of depletion. In the past decades, the Cambodian government has granted fishing concessions to industrial fishing operations as a means of generating much-needed income. The aggressive industrial fishing methods, combined with population growth among fishing families, endanger this essential resource.

The tension surrounding diminishing fishery resources had reached a boiling point by the time the government returned a majority of fishing areas back to the poor fisherfolk in 2000. But the impacts were as much negative with positive: along with more and larger fishing areas came a spike in illegal fishing practices, commercial and community fisherfolk encroaching on each others' territories, and immigration of fisherfolk from Laos and Vietnam.

Indeed, the government's "gift" was a huge step in the right direction, but proper implementation—so as to reduce poverty on Cambodian waters—was far from guaranteed.

Hello, Mr. Fish!

Bunthoeun's wide smile and easy-going manner make him a friend to all. When he arrives in Anlong Raing by boat, people are visibly happy to see him. "Lok Trey," they call him, or "Mr. Fish"—a name that is part affection, part business. Fond as they are of him, people are also aware of the critical role Bunthoeun, Oxfam, and our allies have played in keeping community fisheries afloat.

Specifically, Oxfam's work has included:

  • Strengthening communities—On a local level, Oxfam has partnered with Cambodia Family Development Services (CFDS), the Village Support Group, and the Organization for Development of the Poor to strengthen communities on Tonle Sap Lake and to help them manage their newfound resources. In Anlong Raing, CFDS helped community members implement a simple patrolling system to protect the community's fishing area from the commercial operations ready to poach on its waters.

  • Guiding the sub-decree—On a national level, Oxfam has partnered with the Fisheries Action Coalition Team (FACT) to garner community participation in the dialogues that have shaped the sub-decree. Specifically, Bunthoeun and FACT surveyed 78 families on the Tonle Sap, as well as the Upper and Lower Mekong River, to evaluate the reform. This survey, passed on to the Department of Fisheries, helped guide the drafting of the sub-decree.

  • Fostering respect—On the local and national levels, Oxfam and its allies have fostered respect both for the vital resource at stake, as well as for the knowledge and perspective of community fisherfolk, who have the deepest experience fishing Cambodian waters. Today, communities have a better understanding of the damage that can be caused by illegal fishing practices and are learning other ways of improving fish production, such as fish conservation zones. On a national level, the Department of Fisheries has come to recognize that communities know best about the waters they harvest. With each new draft of the sub-decree, the Departments consults communities for their input and approval.

What's Next?

The decision on the sub-decree is long overdue. But the desire to see this document finalized is universal, and Oxfam is optimistic that it will soon be passed.

When it is, the effects will not only be felt by the community fisheries on the Tonle Sap, but throughout the fresh waters of Cambodia. The sub-decree will officially give communities the right to organize, to defend their fishing territories, and to treat their resources as they see fit-with proper fishing gear and practices.

For Anlong Raing, a village still suffering from tremendous poverty, a strong community fishery will help people move beyond subsistence and, thanks to Mr. Fish and others, to know not just peace, but security.

Oxfam is working to establish and strengthen community fisheries in Cambodia, Thailand, Burma, and China. In addition, Oxfam is supporting community-based management of land, forests, and water in the Mekong River Basin currently being threatened by aggressive development projects in the region.