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Abstract:
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"Fisheries are vital to Cambodia as a nation and for her people. Supplying nearly 75% of the animal protein consumed by Cambodians, fish provide an important safety net by supplementing diets, providing income, and creating employment. It is estimated that few fisheries in the world have as great an impact on a nation's populace as that of Cambodia's inland fisheries.
"Knowing fisheries are critical to its national security, the Cambodian government has embraced community based natural resource management (CBNRM) as a means to ensure sustainability of the resource and livelihoods. Decentralization, however, is a long process, and the road to meaningful fisheries reform is never smooth nor found without difficulties. In 2000, the government declared 56% of fishing lots, a commercial system of privatized fishing areas in place since the colonial era, to belong to communities. Conflicts between subsistence fishers and commercial fishers, often severe, continue, though illegal fishing has in some areas been reduced. At the level of State legislation, the decentralization process began with the first passage of the Royal Decree continued with the final Sub decree on establishing Community Fisheries (promulgated in 2000 and officially passed in 2004), and ends with the passage of the Sub decree on Community Fisheries Management in June of 2005. With these legal reforms in place, the decentralization process now has the legal means to enable co-management of inland fisheries in many areas of the country.
"404 Community Fisheries (CF) have been set up at the village level throughout the country. These CFs primarily worked on enforcement and educating village members about sustainable fishing practices in the beginning. Now with the Communities Fisheries Management Sub decree passed, CF are now beginning to form Community Fisheries Plans for reaching their goal of fisheries resource conservation and management.
"This paper presents background to the process of decentralization of fisheries management in Cambodia with discussion focusing on the most recent steps taken in the process: the formation of fisheries networks and federations. It is believed that fisheries networks will strengthen Community Fisheries' ability to effectively co-manage fisheries at the local level."
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