Heavy rains and a bumper fish crop have improved life along the Mekong River after a nearly four-year drought, poor harvests and the pandemic took a heavy toll on some 65 million people who rely on the waterway for their daily livelihoods.
According to the Laos-based multinational Mekong River Commission, which coordinates use of Mekong resources, the drought had affected fish and agricultural production but ended as mainland Southeast Asia experienced regular rainfall last year and late rains that extended the wet season into December.
The Lower Mekong Basin, including Thailand, southern Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, fared best, and a commission spokesperson said “the region is not still in a drought.”
Meteorologically, he said, the basin “has been in normal and wet conditions since January.”
A return to “normal” had Cambodia’s Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry forecasting a much improved 2022-23, as the annual fishing season got under way with families fermenting carp into the traditional prahok, or fish sauce.
It said initial reports suggest this year’s harvest is up by as much as 40% over last year as fish begin migrating from the Tonle Sap Lake in central-west Cambodia, navigating streams and creeks and into the Mekong and Bassac rivers.
A targeted moratorium on catching endangered species during spawning season and the “effective prevention of illegal fishing activities in the Tonle Sap Lake” had produced an “increased number of wild freshwater fish” during the 2022 breeding season, the ministry said.
However, analysts said the improved outlook remained patchy and that it was too early to say the drought was over, while many fishers say that although bumper catches were helped by illegal electric nets, the harvest was still low because of dams.