Vietnamese Illegal Fishing in Cambodian Water Ignored

In relation to the Vietnamese illegal fishing in Cambodia’s water border, local fishermen moved from their areas to the provincial office in Kampot in order to find out intervention from the authorities, but the problem has not been solved yet. On October 20, 2009 around 100 local residents came to protest in front of the provincial office to demand the authorities to take immediate action against the illegal fishing by Vietnamese people in Cambodian water territory, which resulted in the reduction of their daily income and the distinction of species of fish and other creatures in the sea.

According to an interview with a 36-year-old man, named Kor Mar, published on October 21, 2009 on the Cambodia Daily News, Vietnamese fishermen had illegally entered Cambodian waters for around 3 years for illegal fishing. They [Vietnamese fishermen] used all kinds of fish instruments that could easily ensnare fish. They team up, stretching the nets about one kilomer long between two boats on top of the water and trapping fish underneath. He added that for the past 6 months, the number of Vietnamese boats had increased from 15 to 20 per night, and that Cambodian fisherman who used to catch 5 kg of crab or shrimp per night, now only average 2 or 3 kg.

He continued, “We earn enough money for gasoline, but we are not able to save nothing.”

In general those local Cambodian fishermen annually had to pay on tax of 400,000 riel [about 100 USD] in order to receive license for doing such business as their daily livelihood; however these days they challenged the decrease amount of fishing and the increase number of Vietnamese fishermen.

On that day, 3 representatives were asked into the office. The authorities promised to take action of the matter.

Based on investigation, up to now the authorities have not solved the problem yet.

Mrs. Sim Sophea, provincial coordination of Adhoc reported there has not been yet any positive solution for local villagers from the authorities. In addition on October 28, two protests took place in two villages, Treak village, Chum Kriel commune and Daun Toak village against the sand dredging by Keo Pha Development Company.

Whereas provincial governor Mr. Khov Kimhour claimed on the issue that he had ordered the provincial fisheries department to study the case, but that the authorities could not prohibit Vietnamese fishermen from the site because the sea border is not clearly demarcated whether the waters belong to Cambodia or Vietnam.

Even though, the authorities should take immediate action by cooperating with Vietnamese in order to research on the site based on the international boundary between Cambodian and Vietnamese waters.