Crackdown on illegal fishing gear around Tonle Sap extends to fish exports to Thailand

BANTEY MEANCHEAY (CEN-Cambodia Herald)  - A four-day government crackdown on illegal fishing gear around the Tonle Sap Lake, the second phase of an operation that began last year, extended to exporters Wednesday as provincial authorities in Bantey Meancheay province detained 10 vehicles heading for the Thai border.

The operation, overseen by Yim Bunrong, provincial director of the Water Resources and Meteorology Department, took place near Teok Thlar bridge in Serey Sorphon, sources said, adding that each of the 10 vehicles were found to be carrying many kinds of fish with each load weighing between 100-200 kg.   

Authorities have threatened to arrest all fish traders who refused to stop exporting fish illegally to Thailand.

According to industry sources, vehicles carry four or five people who each sell between 20 and 30 kg of fish at Poi Pet Thmey Market and other markets in the border town as well as village markets along the border.

Exporting fish leads to higher food prices locally. By halting illegal exports, authorities believe low prices will encourage people to make fermented fish for people to eat later when freshly-caught fish are less plentiful, especially during the late dry season and early wet season.

Reports from the border on Monday and Tuesday indicated that small-scale exports were still going on but that large-scale shipments had been stopped.

Authorities confirmed that halting fish exports to Thailand was part of the more general crackdown on illegal fishing gear in six provinces around the Tonle Sap Lake, namely Kompong Chhnang, Pursat, Battambang, Siem Reap, Kompong Thom and Kompong Cham.

The crackdown is being overseen by the Tonle Sap Authority, chaired by Water Resources and Meteorology Minister Lim Kean Hour, with the support of armed forces and provincial authorities, a source familiar with the situation said. The Fisheries Administration of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries is not understood be involved.

In July last year, Prime Minister Hun Sen called publicly for the removal of five centrally-appointed fisheries chiefs around the Tonle Sap Lake after issuing an order for the removal of illegal fishing gear in May.

"We now give more power to the provincial authorities," he said. Hun Sen also asked Deputy Prime Minister Sar Kheng, who is also interior minister, to review the "odd structures" within the ministry of both the fisheries and forestry administrations, saying they were "not aligned with the rest of the country."

As far as fisheries were concerned, "the structure has not only been difficult for provincial authorities to deal with but also for the Fisheries Administration itself," the prime minister said.


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