Addressing technical, social and economic constraints to rice fish culture in Laos, emphasising women’s involvement: DFID Aquaculture Research Programme Project R6380Cb, final technical report

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Community management of Mekong River resources in Laos

The Mekong River is one of Asia's greatest rivers. It is the lifeblood of millions of small-scale farmers and fishers in China, Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. In the Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR), the river is particularly important because for the landlocked country, the Mekong is the Sea of Laos. In southern Lao PDR, fisheries for native fish species constitute an extremely important source of subsistence protein and income for local people. It has been estimated that wild-caught fish constitute at least 90% of the protein for lowland Laotians living next to the Mekong. Despite the extreme importance of fish to the diets and economics of communities along the Mekong, the resource, and the people who depend upon it, are in danger.

Inland community fisheries in southern Laos

Since 1993, a series of aquatic resource co-management workshops have been on-going, established by the Lao government and fisheries agencies for village farmers in the Khong District in southern Laos, aiming for a sustainable use of inland capture fisheries resources. This article describes the mechanics involved and the participants' perspective, as well as reporting the outcomes and progress of the workshops so far.

Values of inland fisheries in the Mekong river basin

Asia has the most productive inland fisheries in the world. The fishery sector contributes significantly to the national economies of the region. Inland fisheries also improve food security by providing a source of protein and a livelihood for millions of people in this part of the world, especially the rural poor. The purpose of this report is to provide information on the biological, economic, social and cultural values of river fisheries in the Lower Mekong Basin, and to identify the main impacts of environmental changes on these values. A review of fisheries-related literature, including project reports and gray literature, was undertaken. More than 800 documents were reviewed, and original information was extracted from 270 of them. The analysis identified a large number of localized studies leading to generic conclusions. The report addresses the basin wide issues and studies. It is then organized by nation, namely, the Chinese province of Yunnan, then Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. It first gives an overview of each country’s economic, fisheries and social situation, then details the values documented for river fisheries in each country.