<Nature and Our Future: The Mekong Basin and Japan>

1-4. The Mekong River:
The World’s Largest Freshwater Fishery
Consumption of Freshwater Fish in the Mekong Basin
According to Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) statistics, 750,000 tons of freshwater fish arecaught every year in the four countries of the Lower Mekong. Field surveys, however, estimate around
2.1 million tons per year, equivalent to 18% of the global freshwater fish catch. Calculating from theFAO statistics, the annual consumption of freshwater fish per person in the Lower Mekong is 13.8 kg,
while the global average is a mere 2.3 kg. The annual consumption in Cambodia is 19.4 kg, the highest
in the world. Summarizing further 20 freshwater fish surveys, the average annual consumption perperson leaps to 32.3 kg for Cambodia, 24.5 kg for Laos, 24.9 kg for Thailand, and 34.5 kg for Vietnam.
According to FAO data for 2000 to 2003,of the animal protein consumed per day,the proportion supplied by freshwater fish
was 49.8% in Cambodia, 38.31% in Laos,
16.19% in Thailand, and 12.87% in Vietnam,
which can be seen to be extremely highwhen compared with the global average of
5.78%. Cambodia and Laos are especiallyconspicuous in this regard.

Mekong River Fisheries
Recent data show that catches in Mekong basin fisheries are estimated to have an annual economic
value of between USD 2.1 billion and USD 3.8 billion, and between USD 4.2 billion and USD 7.6
billion at retail prices (ICEM 2010).
In the vicinity of the Khone Falls in southern Laos, the Mekong River mainstream fishing industry
supports more than 65,000 households. The average household in this area is thought to catch anannual average of 355 kg of fish, and consume 249 kg of fish. The total catch in the area close tothe Khone Falls is estimated at 4,000 tons, worth between USD 450,000 and USD 1 million (Baran,Jantunen, and Chong 2008).
Some sources estimate that the freshwater fish production in Cambodia, including fish farming,accounts for between 11.7% to 16% of the GDP, while another source estimates between 8% to 12%.
While these figures are all estimates, and it is difficult to obtain accurate statistics for small-scale
fisher-folks, the importance of the Mekong River fisheries can be understood from these approximate
data (ICEM 2010).

Fish Support Daily Life and Culture
At present, fish from the Mekong River Basin are being distributed across international borders due tothe development of refrigeration facilities and transportation networks. In fact, fish were an important
item of exchange in the barter that took place before the establishment of the current distribution system.
<1-4>
1

<Nature and Our Future: The Mekong Basin and Japan>

Until about 50 years ago, the exchange of fish and rice took place over an extensive region, including
southern Laos and northeastern Thailand. In the era when a subsistence lifestyle was virtually
universal, people spent much of their time gathering in order to secure food. In villages where themain vocation was farming, it was difficult to find time to obtain supplementary foods (to eat withrice) during the busy farming seasons of rice seedling transplantation and rice harvesting. At the sametime, in riverside villages where fish were available in abundance, fish were caught and processed
into fermented or dried foods, which the villagers then actively exchanged for the goods they needed.
Food was thus distributed across the region by barter.
These exchanges not only had practical aspects, but also social and cultural significance. A
northeastern Thai woman in her 70s relates that in her youth she would make large amounts of dried
and fermented foods, load them onto an ox cart and often set off together with a friend without first
deciding on a destination. She would then negotiate with people she met along the way to exchange
the fish products she had brought with her for rice and other agricultural products. There was no fixedexchange rate for rice and fish, so when she had a surplus she would give more to the other person,and if she was in short supply she would negotiate with the other person to obtain larger amounts ofrice. It was explained that what was important in these negotiations was to be openhanded.
At the time, neither rice nor fish were distributed through the market, and so it was not possible to turnthem into cash. It can therefore be supposed that the people felt that there was no point in having afixed numerical exchange rate. Moreover, since rice and fish cannot be preserved for long periods oftime, rather than hoarding large amounts and then see it rot and go to waste, the social circumstanceswere such that the best way to prepare for the unexpected was to give generously to others, thus
heightening one’s reputation and strengthening interpersonal relations. We also learned from theinterviews that setting off to an unknown village, engaging in exchanges, and making new friends withthe people there was considered something enjoyable to be looked forward to. People who became
friends through such exchanges called each other siaow (meaning something like “a close friend”) andfrequently exchanged visits with each other. After a while, a marriage might take place between thetwo families, thereby strengthening the social link through a transformation from friend to relative.
Now that fish can easily be sold for cash, many elderly people lament the days when fish could beshared through exchange, but even today, when fish catches are good in southern Laos the fish aregiven out to friends and relatives. In the villages of northeastern Thailand, when the fish catch issmall and the cost of the gasoline to take the fish to market cannot be recouped, the fish are sold in
the village at a very low price. The fish of the Mekong Basin even now play an important role instrengthening social relations, and support the food security of people who have limited opportunities
to gain cash income.
References
Baran, Eric, Jantunen Teemu, and Chiew Kieok Chong, 2008. Value of Inland Fisheries in the Mekong River Basin, Tropical River
Fisheries Valuation: Background Paper to Global Synthesis 227-290.
International Center for Environmental Management (ICEM). 2010. Mekong River Commission (MRC) Strategic EnvironmentalAssessment (SEA) for Hydropower on the Mekong Mainstream: Fisheries Baseline Assessment Working Paper.
Vientiane, Lao PDR: MRC.
http://www.mrcmekong.org/about-the-mrc/programmes/initiative-on-sustainable-hydropower/strategic-environmental-assessment-ofmainstream-dams/

Yuka Kiguchi<1-4>
2