Kampot Sea Catches Down 11% In 2021
Kampot: The sea catch in 2021 has decreased by more than two thousand tons compared to last year. In order to conserve and protect marine resources, which are declining from year to year, the Fisheries Administration of the Provincial Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Kampot has set out some necessary plans for further implementation in the coming year.
Mr. Sar Sorin, Director of Fisheries Administration of Kampot Provincial Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, confirmed that in 2021, the total recorded sea fish catch weighed 18,000 tons. This amount decreased by 2,300 tons or 11 percent compared to 2020, which was 20,300 tons.
“This decrease in sea yield is due to a number of factors, including climate change, such as frequent thunderstorms,” he said. Human factors have led to the loss of habitat in the fishing grounds due to coastal development activities, illegal fishing gear and illegal fishing. Awareness of environmental protection and natural resources is still limited.
Mr. Sar Sorin also stated that in order to conserve marine resources sustainably, the Fisheries Administration has set out the necessary plans and directions for implementation. Some, such as fisheries officials, must continue to mobilize partner organizations to set up border posts, mangroves, seagrass and corals and continue to disseminate fisheries laws to fishermen widely to cooperate in eliminating illegal fishing gear. There are plans to introduce technical arrangements for fishermen to increase their fish, crab and shrimp farming activities in order to reduce fishing out at sea.
Mr. Khan added that fisheries officials will continue to patrol to prevent fishing offenses. In addition, the Fisheries Administration will organize nine fishing communities in Kampot to become natural tourism areas for fishermen to earn extra income in addition to relying on the catches. RASMEI
This is due to over fishing. An example, look at the river in Kampot. The net fisherman sweep the river and take everything so there are no fish of any size. No one stops them from doing this! Another example is the Alaska (America) King Crab fishing 40 years ago. It was so over fished that the fishing crashed! Through regulation and enforcement it has come back. The key words are “Regulation and Enforcement.” I see female crab for sale in the Kampot market. You take the females, you kill off future generations and soon there will be no crab. Every day I see the fishing fleet go down the river in Kampot and wonder how the fish and squid stocks can sustain such a large fleet night after night 365 nights a year. Well, the article shows, it can’t. Someday soon there will be no fish, crab and squid to fish for unless there is strict regulation.
What do you expect happens, when you destroy and fill up all breeding grounds like mangroves, rocky beaches and corals to build useless, ugly coastal streets and low quality hotel casinos nobody comes to? Not only do you ruin the fishermen, the fishmongers, and their families with this destruction of nature, you destroy also all tourism, because tourists go now to the beautiful beaches of Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia, that have been left untouched!