In 2014-2015, as part of an EU project, IUCN and local NGO Fisheries Action Coalition Team (FACT) established three fish conservation areas (FCAs) in the Tonle Sap: in Phlov Touk near the Stung Sen Ramsar Site in Kampong Chhnang; in Balot in the Boeung Tonle Chhmar Ramsar Site in Kampong Thom; and in Kampong Phluk, a 30-minute drive from Siem Reap.
The establishment of FCAs was a response to the sudden abolition in 2012 of the private fishing lots that had historically controlled fishing in the Tonle Sap, a decision that risked triggering a “tragedy of the commons” outcome in the absence of improved fisheries management.
These FCAs were small but strategically located to protect key fish habitats where broodstock (or “mother fish”) congregate in the dry season when the lake level declines dramatically as part of the Mekong flood pulse. The decision to use FCAs rather than gear restrictions or quotas was because FCAs are simple to design, monitor, and enforce.
In November 2023, almost 10 years after we established them, an IUCN team visited two of the three FCAs in the Tonle Sap. In Phat Sanday, fishers report that since the FCA was established in 2019, fish stocks have increased from 15 to 75 tons and fish catch from 11 to 18 kg/household/day.
When we asked how fishers knew that fish stocks had increased so much, we were told that they could feel the mother fish with their oars, a wonderful example of local environmental knowledge.
When asked what they would like their children to become, the fishers said teachers or nurses, not fishers. This raises the question of whether we should support families who wish to voluntarily exit the fishing sector. There may simply be too many fishers for fishing in the Tonle Sap ever to be sustainable. It’s the same story with marine fishing in Viet Nam.
While the answers to our questions should be treated with some caution, the consistency in response is striking when it comes to the impact of the FCAs on fish stocks. These findings are not unique: Conservation International has implemented a similar model and achieved similar success.
The key policy message is that the FCA/MTF model is highly cost-effective and should be scaled up. Of the 261 community fisheries committees in the Tonle Sap, only about 10% are considered fully operational. There’s huge room for improvement in terms of community-based fisheries management.