東海大学海洋研究所研究報告 第 44 号
（2022）1 〜25 頁
Bull. Inst. Oceanic Res. & Develop., Tokai Univ.（2022）, 44, 1-25

原著論文（Original Article）

Fishery Catch Distributions of Small-Scale Marine Fisheries in Cambodia
CHIN Leakhena1/2）, Mina HORI3）, Tsutom MIYATA4）, Hiroshi SAITO1）, PHEN Bunthoeun2）,
Satoshi ISHIKAWA1）

Abstract
Interviews at individual houses and information gathering through group discussions wereconducted regarding the distribution and pricing system of marine ﬁshery products in six ﬁshingvillages along the coast of Cambodia. Information was obtained from 290 households and 17
distributors. The distribution of marine products in Cambodia involved ﬁshers, distributors, retailers,and consumers, and there was no speciﬁc distribution system. Although the price of marine products
was negotiated between the seller and the buyer, the price was aﬀected by the relationship among
them, the type of catch, and fishery seasons. The marine fishery catch of the six villages was
distributed to inland cities such as Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, Kampong Speu, Kampong Cham, andKampong Thom. In addition, three villages exported seafood to Thailand and Viet Nam.

Introduction
The royal government of Cambodia hasrecognized the importance of the ﬁshery sector
through the Fisheries Administration（FiA）in
food supply and economic activities（FiA, 2020）.
Fishery products provide essential nutrition andvitamins to the population of Cambodia（Vilain
and Baran, 2016）, covering approximately 81.5 %of the total protein intake（FiA, 2010）. Thus far,inland fisheries have been highlighted as animportant protein source and job generator in
Cambodia（e.g., Hori., 2006; Ishikawa.,
2017）. The fish amount from marine capture
fisheries in Cambodia had increased 3.5 times
over the last two decades（FiA, 2021）, and smallscale marine capture ﬁsheries play a vital role increating employment, boosting the coastal
economy, and providing food security for rural
poor fishers（Chin., 2021 ）. In order toachieve the sustainable development of coastal

1） Graduate School of Earth and Environmental Science, Tokai University, 3-20-1 Orido, Shimizu-ku, Shizuoka, Shizuoka
424-8610, Japan
2） Fisheries Administration, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of the Kingdom of Cambodia, #186 Preah
Norodom Blvd., Sangkat Tonle Basac, Khan Chamcar Morn, Phnom Penh, Cambodia3） Graduate School of Kuroshio Science, Kochi University, 2-5-1 Akebono-cho, Kochi, 780-8052, Japan
4） Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Science, 1-1 Owashi, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan＊Corresponding author: CHIN Leakhena, e-mail: leakhenachin85@gmail.com,
Address: Graduate School of Earth and Environmental Science, Tokai University, 3-20-1 Orido, Shimizu-ku, Shizuoka,
Shizuoka/ Fisheries Administration, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of the Kingdom of Cambodia, #186
Preah Norodom Blvd., Sangkat Tonle Basac, Khan Chamcar Morn, Phnom Penh, Cambodia（2022 年 1 月 25 日受付／ 2022 年 3 月 1 日受理）

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CHIN Leakhena, Mina HORI, Tsutom MIYATA, Hiroshi SAITO, PHEN Bunthoeun, Satoshi ISHIKAWA

society and sustainable ﬁshery, it is necessary tocreate effective and rational management
measures to control marine ﬁshery（Chin
.,
2021）
.
On the other hand, a lack of reliable data andinformation for the formulation of the legal
framework of marine fishery management andseafood safety has been suggested in many areas（Cato, 1998）. In Cambodia, although for inland
fishery several papers including fisheries data
have been published and the Community
Fishery Development Department（CFDD）ofFiA has been collecting information on fishery
activity in cooperation with local villagers（McKenney and Prom, 2 0 0 2; Thay, 2 0 0 2;
Ishikawa., 2017）, for small-scale marine
fishery, such information and data are quite
limited（Chin., 2021）, growing beyond its
inland ﬁsheries was a result of the nation's socioeconomic interests（Sokhan, 2002）.
Small-scale fishing along the tropical coast is
characterized by multiple ﬁshing gear and multitarget species with a high variety of distribution
routes（Ishikawa., 2017; Yagi, 2019 ）. It
seems that the systematic and regular data andinformation collection of small-scale coastal
fisheries implemented in developed countries,
including Japan, are diﬃcult in the tropical zone.
For more than 20 years, several projects andprograms have been conducted to develop
systematic fisheries data collection systems inSoutheast Asian countries, and the collectedﬁsheries statistics data have not been suﬃcientto evaluate the precise stock status of each
important fisheries resource（Ishikawa.,
2017）. In addition, given the importance of thecoastal small-scale ﬁshery in Cambodia（Chin., 2021）, ﬁsheries statistics data and information
will be used not only for stock evaluation andregulation of fisheries activity, but also forlivelihood improvements of fishers andsustainable rural development. Yagi （2019 ）pointed out that the value of fish in Southeast
Asia is greatly affected by the cost oftransportation and handling in the market, in
addition to the species and characteristics of the
fish. In this regard, various information
regarding fishery activities, including
postharvest situations, fish trading, andprocessing, should be targeted in systematic
fisheries statistics systems（Hori., 2009;Tiaye., 2018）.
Approximately 70 % of marine products havebeen exported to Thailand, Hong Kong, and Viet
Nam, due to the small size of domestic market（Sokhan, 2002）. A formal trading system formarine fishery products does not exist in
Cambodia, where the intermediary was assumed
as the main distributor within the country andacross borders, and a product's availability anddemand aﬀect the price determination（Chin., 2021）. The studies so far conducted, focusedon the abstracts of the distributions of marine
products in Cambodia, however there were few
previous st ud ies o f t he ma r ine pr oductdistribution from fishery to the domestic foodmarkets. Furthermore, there are some gaps
between the national ﬁsheries statistics and theactual situation of the small-scale marine
fisheries, although marine fisheries statistics
have been compiled annually（Sokhan, 2002）.
Therefore, quantitative survey was conductedto obtain precise data on the distribution ofmarine fishery products in small-scale coastal
f isheries f or ana lysis. Furt hermore, t heconducted survey was comprehensive which
covered main target species of fishers in thethree main coastal provinces of Cambodia thatshared high proportions of marine fish catchesfrom small-scale ﬁsheries（FiA, 2020 and 2021）.

Materials and methods
The study areas were the following six villages
in three coastal provinces in the southern part ofCambodia: Trapeang Ropov and Trapeang
Sangkae villages in Kampot Province, Angkaol
and Ou Krasar villages of Kep Province, and3Fishery Catch Distributions of Small-Scale Marine Fisheries in Cambodia

Fig. 1. Map of study areas. Study villages [ ], towns [ ], provincial border [], wetland [], and mangrove [].
body [

Chrolong and Preaek Pras villages of Preah
Sihanouk Province. These three provinces sharea high proportion of marine fish catches fromsmall-scale ﬁsheries, estimated at approximately
82.6 % in 2019（FiA, 2020 and 2021）. The ﬁshingareas of these six villages are located along thecoastline and channel in Kampot, Kep, and Preah
Sihanouk Provinces（Fig. 1）.
The general data and information of the target
villages including number of fishers andintermediaries, names of community head, main], main road [], waterfishing gears, and addresses of fishers andintermediaries, community offices and landingsites were collected from provincial Fisheries
Administration Cantonment （FiAC ）offices.
Then, all intermediaries who conducted tradebusinesses constantly in each village wereselected f or interviews, and target f ishhouseholds were selected randomly based on thegeneral information collected from FiACs in thesix villages. The number of target households
interviewed was calculated using the following

4

CHIN Leakhena, Mina HORI, Tsutom MIYATA, Hiroshi SAITO, PHEN Bunthoeun, Satoshi ISHIKAWA

formula based on Miyata（2018）
:
N≥

P
B
P‑1
+1
*
K A*（ 1 ‑ A）

（）
2

where
is the required number of households,
is the total number of ﬁshing households in asurvey area,is the relative accuracy（0.1）,
is the signiﬁcance level（1.96）for 5 % , andisthe population rate of 0.5.
The household interviews and group discussions
with ﬁshers and intermediaries were conducted
for detailed data from December 15, 2019, toJanuary 8, 2020, and from December 1, 2020, toJanuary 12, 2021. In the ﬁrst period of the ﬁeld
surveys, interviewers visited each house, landing
site, or both to conduct interviews with thehousehold heads and boat owners, with theassistance of FiAC officers. When theinterviewee was not available, the interview was
postponed until they were available. If theselected interviewee declined to be interviewed,
another was selected to replace them from an
ethical perspective. In the second period of theﬁeld survey, the heads of community ﬁsheries orheads of respective villages assisted in making
appointments with respondents in advance dueto the restriction gathering measures against
COVID-19.
The data and information obtained frominterviews with fishers included the volume offish catch and selling, fishing season, customer,transportation and destination of marine ﬁsheryproducts, names, sizes and unit price of target
species, price decision making, and choice to sell
the catch after landing. Information on the pricesof target species at purchasing and selling, pricedecision mechanisms, compositions of fisheryproducts according to the destinations, andcustomers were collected from intermediaries.
In the interview survey, the interviewer ﬁrstly
explained the purpose of the survey to theinterviewee and promised the limitation ofobtained information use to only the survey
purpose, and then obtained approval frominterviewee. After getting approval from theinterviewee, the interviewer read the agreementon the handout sheet and asked the interviewee
to sign or thumb on the paper to confirm theagreement. Form of written agreement wasappeared in Appendix 1.
SPSS, R software programs, and Microsoft Excel were used to analyze the data.

Results
In total, there were 2 9 0 fishers and 1 7
intermediaries in the six villages: 80 ﬁshers and4 intermediaries in Trapeang Ropov, 43 fishers
and 3 intermediaries in Trapeang Sangkae, 57
fishers and 3 intermediaries in Angkaol, 47
fishers and 3 intermediaries in Ou Krasar, 46
ﬁshers and 2 intermediaries in Preaek Pras, andTable 1 Number of respondents in the six study villages of three provinces

Name of provinces Name of villages
KampotTrapeang Ropov
Trapeang Sangkae
KepAngkaol
Ou Krasar
Preah Sihanouk
Preaek Pras
Chrolong
Total

No. of HHs
ﬁshers
468
76
137
92
86
21
880

No. of interviewed
ﬁshers
80
43
57
47
46
17
290

No. interviewed
intermediaries
4
3
3
3
2
2
17

Fishery Catch Distributions of Small-Scale Marine Fisheries in Cambodia

N=228
84.1%
N=30
N=2711
93.4%%

Normal diistribution
channnel

11.1%%

Primary intermediaries

Provinccial retailers

N=11
4.1%

Fishers
N=290

N=2
0.7%
N=19
6.6%

Pro
ocessors

End consumerscSpecial ddistribution
channel ((to tourists)

Fig. 2. Distribution channels of marine fishery products by fishers in the six study villages
Fig. 2 Disttribution channelss of marine fisheryy products by fishhers in the six studdy villages

17 fishers and 2 intermediaries in Chrolong（Table 1）.

Primary distributions of marine ﬁsheryproducts
In the six villages, there were two distribution
channels of marine ﬁshery products: 1）a normal
distribution in which intermediaries, retailers,
processors, and end consumers are buyers, and2 ）special distribution where tourists arepotential buyers（Fig. 2 ）. Almost all fishers（93.4 % ）in the study areas sold their fisherycatches through the normal distribution channel,
and the remaining（6.6 % ）sold through thespecial channel. Overall, 84.1 % of 228 ﬁshers soldmarine products to intermediaries in the villages,
11.1% and 4.1% sold ﬁshery products to retailers
and processors, respectively, and only 2 ﬁshers（0.7 % ）sold to end consumers（Fig. 2）.
1）Normal distribution channels

In the villages, the intermediaries purchased
almost all marine products （31 products ）,excepting Pacific bean donax and Tiger moonsnail, the retailers purchased 20 kinds of marine
products and the end consumers purchased 18
products, although the processors treated only
short mackerel and Singapore vinegar crab
（Table 2）. The intermediaries were categorized
into four groups based on their treated species
as “ fish,” “crab,” “squid/shrimp,” and “mix”（Table 3）. “Fish-intermediary” collected all kinds
of ﬁsh species and stingray. “Crab-intermediary”
targeted all kinds of crab species, blood cockles,
and shellfish. “ Squid/shrimp-intermediary ”
targeted squid, octopus, cuttlefish, all kinds ofshrimp, and mantis shrimp. “ Mix species
intermediary ” collected all kinds of marine
fishery products. The fish, crab, and squid/
shrimp intermediaries conducted their jobs inTrapeang Ropov, Trapeang Sangkae, Angkaol,
and Ou Krasar villages, whereas the mix species
intermediaries operated in Chrolong and Preaek
Pras villages（Table 3）.
The processor was the main buyer of shortmackerel. 68.75 % of the mackerel gillnet ﬁshers
in Trapeang Ropov village directly sold shortmackerel to the processors, and they made5

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CHIN Leakhena, Mina HORI, Tsutom MIYATA, Hiroshi SAITO, PHEN Bunthoeun, Satoshi ISHIKAWA

Table 2 Main and sub buyers of each fish product, circles and triangles suggest main and sub buyers,respectively.

Fishery productIntermediary
Retailer
Processor
Bay sillago〇〇
Chacunda gizzard shad〇Common geloina〇〇
Cuttleﬁsh〇〇
Dog conch〇〇
Fourﬁnger threadﬁn〇△
Giant freshwater prawn〇
Gould's razor shell〇〇Grouper〇
Halfbeak〇Indian threadﬁn
〇
Krill
〇
Mantis shrimp〇△
Mud crab〇△
Mullet〇△Octopus〇〇Paciﬁc bean donax〇
Quadrate horn shell〇〇
Rabbitﬁsh〇〇
Seabass〇
Short mackerel〇△△
Shrimp scad〇
Shrimp＊〇〇Singapore vinegar crab〇〇
Snake eel〇〇
Spanish mackerel〇
Spotted catﬁsh
〇
Squid
〇
△
Stingray〇〇
Swimming crab〇△
Tiger moon snail〇
Wrasse〇（ Mixed ﬁsh ）〇＊ Shrimps including Banana, western king, green tiger, giant tiger shrimps
Source: Interview survey and focus group discussion with ﬁsherfolks in 2019-2021

steamed short mackerel at the landing site andtransported them to different provinces and to
Thailand. The oﬀshore mackerel gillnet ﬁsheries
produced 100.5 kg and 57.3 kg per operation on
average during the high and low catch seasons,respectively, while the inshore one landed 36.0 kg
and 22.5 kg per operation in the high and low
catch seasons, respectively. Most of them

End Consumer
〇
△
△
△
△
△
△
△
△
〇
〇
〇
〇

△
〇
△
△
△

preferred to allocate time for ﬁshing and taking
rests, so they intend to sell their ﬁshery catch toprocessors at once. In addition, the store of theprocessor located near the landing sites also
made it easy to sell ﬁsh to processors.
Female retailers, wives, and relatives of ﬁshers
took notable responsibility for selling the marine

7

Fishery Catch Distributions of Small-Scale Marine Fisheries in Cambodia

Table 3 Types of intermediaries in the six study villages

Types

Trapeang
Ropov
〇
〇
〇

Trapeang
Sangkae〇〇〇Angkaol

Ou Krasar

Chrolong

Preaek Pras

Fish＊
〇
〇
Crab＊
〇
〇
＊
Squid/ shrimp〇〇
Mix species＊〇〇＊ - “Mix species intermediary” collected all kinds of marine ﬁshery products- “Fish-intermediary” collected all kinds of ﬁsh species and stingray- “Crab-intermediary” targeted all kinds of crab species, blood cockles and shellﬁsh- “Squid/shrimp-intermediary” targeted squid, octopus, cuttleﬁsh, all kinds of shrimp and mantis
shrimpcatch to the end consumers at the roadsides,
ma rket s, a nd h ouses （F ig . 3 ）. They a reresponsible for all stages of the trades of theirﬁshery products; in many cases, the negotiationof price decisions and management skills would
not be high. Also, 59 ﬁshers who did not borrowmoney from intermediaries accepted the lower
prices suggested by the buyers. Nonetheless,results of the interview with 21 ﬁshers who vend
their catches directly to end consumers statedthat due to the increase in population and therecognition of the importance of marine ﬁsheryproducts, the popularity of demand fromdomestic consumers had recently increased,
which encouraged small individual vendors tocontinue trading marine fishery products.
Human networking and connections together
with information technology helped acceleratebroader marine fishery markets and increase
convenience in trading; for example, fishersʼ
wives in Trapeang Ropov and Trapeang
Sangkae villages have been operating theirsmartphones to sell the catch to end consumers
in diﬀerent places and receive payments throughbank/money transfers. In this regard, the headsof community ﬁsheries in each village reiterated
during the group discussion that the skills inprice decision and management of the wives andrelatives of fishers were expected to improveﬁshersʼ incomes in the villages.

2）Special distribution channels

The establishment year of the Crab market byﬁshers in the Chroy Dong area of Kep Province
was not shown in the field survey; the market
infrastructure was built by the Kep Ville
governor in 2005, and it was oﬃcially promotedby the Kep government. The purpose of thismarket creation was to promote direct selling ofseafood to tourists by fishers and to improvetheir livelihoods.
17.5 % and 19.1 % of fishers, including theirwives and relatives in Angkaol and Ou Krasar
villages, spent 2‒5 hours per day selling theirproducts to the tourists in the Crab market. This
direct sale resulted in better incomes of
52,500 KHR/day and 45,000 KHR/day, compared
to selling to the intermediaries and/or to the end
consumers at the provincial markets, respectively.
Mr. PHEUN Phalla, the vice chief of the Kep
Fisheries Administration Cantonment, statedthat the market has improved ﬁshersʼ livelihoods
through higher beneﬁts from seafood selling. In
addition, ﬁshers built bigger houses and became
able to own motorcycles and/or vehicles after
the market was formed. In addition, theirchildren started to go to high schools, andseveral of them became able to send the children
to attend university, which had not been accessible
in the past.

8

CHIN Leakhena, Mina HORI, Tsutom MIYATA, Hiroshi SAITO, PHEN Bunthoeun, Satoshi ISHIKAWA

Fermented Singapore vinegar crab or Kdam Brei

Krill paste or Kapi

Boiled crab meat by very small-scale processor

Steamed short mackerel

Roadsides and fisher’s house

Mobile market using bicycle to move aroundFig. 3. Photos of processed marine fishery products, and trading places in the study villages

9Fishery Catch Distributions of Small-Scale Marine Fisheries in Cambodia

Secondary transportation and destinations
The marine ﬁshery products sold from ﬁshers
to intermediaries in the village were transported
to other villages and cities by intermediaries.
The intermediaries transport the fisheryproducts themselves and resell them to otheri nt er med ia r ies . T he f i s her a nd pr i ma r yintermediary played a role in distributing theﬁshery products to other provinces and Phnom
Penh. The secondary intermediaries constitutekey distributors of marine fishery products intheir respective provinces. The provincial

Table 4 Fishing seasons and prices of marine fishery products at primary intermediary’s store and finaldestinations

Fishery product
Shell ﬁsh-Blood cockles

Average Unit price（1,000 KHR/kg）
Distribution
size＊1High catch
Low catch
area＊3Low catch （cm） Purchase Sale Purchase Sale
＊2

Catch seasonsHigh catch
Jan-Jul

Aug-Dec

3.5

15

20

20

25

Year round
Year round
Year round
Year round
Year round
Nov-Jun
Mar-Sept
Nov-JunNov-Jun
Mar-Sept
Nov-JunNov-Feb
Aug-Dec
N/A
Nov-MarYear roundOct-MarOct-Mar
Nov-JunYear round
Nov-JunYear round
Year round
Year round
Year round
Year round
Jul-Oct
Oct-Feb
Jul-Oct
Jul-Oct
Oct-Feb
Jul-Oct
Mar-Oct
Jan-JulN/A
Apr-Oct
Year round
Apr-Sept
Apr-Sept
Jul-Oct
Year round
Jul-Oct

3.5
9.0
3.0
3.0
3.0
12.0
27.5
27.0
21.5
20.0
16.5
15.0
5.0
N/A
3.0
60.0
10.0
8.0
12.0
N/A
17.0

30
10
10
20
5
22
15
7
4
20
8
10
1
6
8
2
50
20
15
6
100

33
12
12
23
8
24
17
8
5
22
9
12
2.5
N/A
10
20
60
28
22
8
120

35
15
12
25
8
25
20
12
7
25
10
15
1.5
10
10
22
60
30
20
7
180

38
18
15
27
10
26
22
13
8
26
12
16
2.5
N/A
15
20
65
35
28
10
200

Nov-Jun

Jul-Oct

12.0

15

22

20

28

Jun-Oct

N/A

12.0

100

120

N/A

N/A

Jun-Oct

N/A

10.0

70

100

N/A

N/A

Cuttleﬁsh

Nov-Jun

Jul-Oct

6.5

15

20

20

25

OctopusNov-Jun

Jul-Oct

13.0

15

23

20

25

-Dog conch-Gould's Razor shell-Quadrate horn shell-Common geloina-Paciﬁc bean donax
Shrimp scad
Mullets
Halfbeak ﬁsh
WrasseSpotted catﬁsh
Rabbitﬁsh
Bay sillago
Chacunda gizzard shad
Mixed ﬁshes
Singapore vinegar crab
Snake eel
Mud crab
Squid
Krill
Mantis shrimp

Giant freshwater
prawn

Provincial,
Domestic
Provincial
Provincial
Provincial
Provincial
Provincial
Provincial
Provincial
Provincial
Provincial
Provincial
Provincial
Provincial
Provincial
Provincial
Provincial
Provincial
Provincial
Provincial
Domestic
Domestic
Provincial,
Domestic
Provincial,
Domestic
Provincial,
Domestic
Provincial,
Domestic
Provincial,
Domestic
Provincial,
Domestic

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CHIN Leakhena, Mina HORI, Tsutom MIYATA, Hiroshi SAITO, PHEN Bunthoeun, Satoshi ISHIKAWA

Table 4 Cont’

Fishery product
Stingray-Whitespotted
whipray-Scaly whipray

Average Unit price（1,000 KHR/kg）
Distribution
size＊1High catch
Low catch
area＊3Low catch （cm） Purchase Sale Purchase Sale
＊2

Catch seasonsHigh catch
Nov-Jun

Jul-Oct

17.0

15

18

20

23

Nov-Jun

Jul-Oct

16.0

15

18

20

23

-Bluespotted maskray

Nov-Jun

Jul-Oct

15.0

15

17

20

23

-Bluespotted fantail
rayStingray-Whitespotted
whipray-Scaly whipray

Nov-Jun

Jul-Oct

10.0

10

15

15

18

Nov-Jun

Jul-Oct

17.0

15

18

20

23

Nov-Jun

Jul-Oct

16.0

15

18

20

23

-Bluespotted maskray

Nov-Jun

Jul-Oct

15.0

15

17

20

23

-Bluespotted fantail
rayGrouper-Orangespottedgrouper-Malabar grouper

Nov-Jun

Jul-Oct

10.0

10

15

15

18

Nov-Jun

Jul-Oct

23.0

25

32

30

40

Nov-Jun

Jul-Oct

30.5

30

40

40

50

Spanish mackerel

Nov-Jun

Jul-Oct

40.0

20

25

25

30

Nov-Jun

Jul-Oct

28.0

13

15

15

20

Nov-Jun

Jul-Oct

32.0

20

24

25

28

Nov-Jun

Jul-Oct

25.0

13

15

15

18

Jun, Nov, Dec

30.0

25

27

30

32

20.0

20

22

25

27

Jun-Feb

Jul-Oct,
Jan-May
Jul-Oct,
Jan-May
Mar-May

28.0

20

22

25

28

Jun-Feb

Mar-May

20.0

15

18

18

20

Shrimp-Green tiger shrimp

Nov-Jun

Jul-Oct

8.0

20

25

25

30

-Giant tiger shrimp

Nov-Jun

Jul-Oct

8.0

25

30

30

35

Indian threadﬁn

Fourﬁnger threadﬁnJun, Nov, Dec
Seabass

Provincial,
Domestic
Provincial,
Domestic
Provincial,
Domestic
Provincial,
Domestic
Provincial,
Domestic
Provincial,
Domestic
Provincial,
Domestic
Provincial,
Domestic
Provincial,
Domestic
Provincial,
Domestic
Provincial,
Domestic
Provincial,
Domestic
Provincial,
Domestic
Provincial,
Domestic
Provincial,
Domestic
Provincial,
Domestic
Provincial,
Domestic
Provincial,
Domestic
Domestic,
Crossborder
Domestic,
Crossborder

11

Fishery Catch Distributions of Small-Scale Marine Fisheries in Cambodia

Table 4 Cont’

Average Unit price（1,000 KHR/kg）
Distribution
size＊1
Fishery productHigh catch
Low catch
area＊3High catch
Low catch （cm） Purchase Sale Purchase Sale
7.0
20
25
25
30 Domestic,-Western king shrimp
Nov-Jun
Jul-Oct
Crossborder-Banana shrimp
Nov-Jun
Jul-Oct
8.0
18
23
22
30 Domestic,
Crossborder
Nov-Jun
Jul-Oct
7.0
15
20
20
25 Domestic,
Crossborder
Nov-Jun
Jul-Oct
2.0
10
13
15
18 Provincial
Short mackerel
Apr-Jul
Aug-Mar
20.0
12
14
15
18 Provincial,
Domestic,
Crossborder
Apr-Jul
Aug-Mar
18.0
8
10
12
15 Provincial,
Domestic,
Crossborder
Swimming crab
Nov-MarApr-Oct
9.0
30
38
40
45 Provincial,
Domestic,
Crossborder
Nov-MarApr-Oct
8.0
20
26
30
36 Provincial,
Domestic,
Crossborder
Source : Interview survey with ﬁsherfolks and intermediary in 2019-2021＊
1 : In the average sizes, measured part of each product was as bellow;- Shrimp, prawn and mantis shrimp = standard length,（from front part of carapace to the end of
telson）- Blood cockle, gould's razor shell, common geloina, Paciﬁc bean donax, and gould's Razor shell =shell length- Dog conch and quadrate horn shell = shell height- Shark, octopus, cuttleﬁsh, squid, stingray, grouper, seabass, wrasse, and snake eel = total length- Swimming crab, cruciﬁx crab, mud crab, and Singapore vinegar grab = shell width（from notch
to the notch of carapace）- Indian threadﬁn, fourﬁnger threadﬁn, and spotted catﬁsh = standard length（from the mostanterior tip of the body to the posterior end of the vertebral column）- Spanish mackerel, short mackerel, mullet, halfbeak, shrimp scad, rabbitﬁsh, bay sillago, andchacunda gizzard shad = fork length＊
2 : US dollar 1.00 = 4,000 KHR＊
3 : Provincial means transportations covering villages, communes, districts, and in the province.
Domestic means covering the other provinces from where the ﬁshers resisted. Cross-borders refers toneighboring countries including Viet Nam and Thailand.
Catch seasons

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CHIN Leakhena, Mina HORI, Tsutom MIYATA, Hiroshi SAITO, PHEN Bunthoeun, Satoshi ISHIKAWA

Fig. 4. Domestic distribution of marine fishery products from study villages. Study villages [ ], destinations], distribution from Trapeang Ropov [], distribution from Preaek Pras [],[ ], main road [], distribution from Trapeang Sangkae [], distribution from Angkaol
distribution from Chronlong [], distribution from Ou Krasar [].
[markets in each province were the destinations
from the study villages. In Phnom Penh,
Tralokbek Market, Old Market, Orussey Market,
and Olympic Market represented destinations
from the study villages and functioned as retailmarkets as well as the collecting places forretailers in other markets in the Phnom Penh
area.
The final destinations of the marine fisheryproducts diﬀered according to their species andsizes, with three types of distribution areas:
provincial, domestic, and cross-border（Table 4）.
“Provincial” means transportation covering othervillages, communes, and districts in the province.
“ Domestic ” means transportation to otherprovinces than those where the fishers reside.

“ Cross-border ” means transportat ion toneighboring countries, including Viet Nam andThailand.
The distribution routes diﬀered among villages（Fig. 4 ）. In Trapeang Ropov village, 40 % offishery products were transported to Phnom
Penh, Kampong Thom, Siem Reap, and Kampong
Cham Provinces using vehicles via National
Roads No. 3, 4, 6, and 7, and 3 5 % weretransported to the Veal Renh Market and Preah
Sihanouk and Kampong Speu Provinces via
National Roads 3 and 4, while 10.2 % and 6.0 % of
the products were transported to Kampot town
（hotels and restaurants and Kampot Market）
and Trapeang Ropov Market, respectively, via
National Roads 3 and 33.

Fishery Catch Distributions of Small-Scale Marine Fisheries in Cambodia

In Chrolong village, 90 % of the marine ﬁsheryproducts were transported via National Roads 3
and 4 to the Real Renh market and Preah
Sihanouk province, and the rest（10 % ）of themwere distributed within the village and commune（Fig. 4）.
In Preaek Pras village, approximately 70 % of
the fishery products were distributed to Preah
Sihanouk Province and Veal Renh Market, andaround 2 0 % of them were distributed to
Kampong Speu Province and Phnom Penh bycontracted vehicles through national roads 3 and4（Fig. 4）. The remaining 10 % were sold within
the village and commune.
In Trapeang Sangkae village, 70 ％ of themarine fishery products were transported toPhnom Penh by contracted vehicles via National
Roads 3 and 33, 20 ％ of them were distributed
to Kampot Province, and 10 ％ of them were soldwithin the village and commune（Fig. 4）.
In Angkaol village, 35 ％ of fishery products
were transported to the Crab and Kep Markets,and 15 ％ of them were transported to Kampong
Trach District via local roads and National Road
33（Fig. 4）. The rest（50 ％）were transported toPhnom Penh via National Roads 33 and 3（Fig.
4）.
In Ou Krasar village, 55 ％ of the marine
fishery products were distributed to the Craband Kep Markets, and 10 ％ to Kampong Touk
via local roads and National Road 33, while
approximately 25 ％ of the ﬁshery products weretransported to Phnom Penh via National Roads 3
and 33（Fig. 4）.

Domestic transportation methods
The ﬁshery products were kept in a foam box
with ice（Fig. 5）when they were transported
from fishing villages to each destination. The
contracted vehicles was used as a method offishery product transportation where thedistance was more than 20 km from the six
villages（Fig. 5）. The capacity of a vehicles was

1‒2 tons. The intermediary used the taxi totransport purchased marine products with anice box. From 5 to 10 kg of fishery products
were packed within the ice box at once. Some
carrying vehicles were owned by the intermediary,
while others were contractors with theintermediary. One carrying contracted vehicles
transports 1‒2 tons of ﬁshery products collectedfrom three to five primary intermediaries at
once.
Intermediaries who did not own vehicles and/or vehicles asked passengers of the contracted
vehicles to transport the fishery products toseveral destinations. The passenger makes acontract with the intermediary regarding thetransportation of fishery products, and theytransport the ﬁsh with some other commodities.
Motorcycles were used to transport fisheryproducts within the villages and communes byﬁshers, retailers, processors, and intermediaries.
Fish transported by motorcycles usually exceed
10 kg but less than 25 kg in one trip. The ﬁshers
took their fishery catch to some nearby
destinations on foot, but the amount of fisheryproducts was less than 6 kg in this case. Boats
were sometimes used by fishers to deliver
fishery products to primary intermediaries
within the ﬁshersʼ villages.

Cross-border transportation routes andmethods
In the six villages, marine fishery products
landed in Trapeang Ropov, Ou Krasar, andAngkaol villages were transported toneighboring countries （Fig. 6 ）. Only theintermediaries in Trapeang Ropov villagetransported fishery products to Thailand
through the Cham Yeam border, and those of
the two villages exported marine fisheryproducts to Viet Nam through the Preaek Chakborder.
The intermediaries in Trapeang Ropov village

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CHIN Leakhena, Mina HORI, Tsutom MIYATA, Hiroshi SAITO, PHEN Bunthoeun, Satoshi ISHIKAWA

Means of transportation（ van and truck with foam and plastic boxes ）to ship fishery products from Cambodia to
ThailandMeans of transportation（ motorbike with foam boxes and baskets ）to ship fishery products from landing sites toVietnamMeans of transportation（ vehicle with foam boxes ）of fishery products from primary intermediary’s store to otherprovinces in Cambodia

Fig. 5. Photos of transportation of marine fishery products from the study villages to different destinations inand out of the country.

Fishery Catch Distributions of Small-Scale Marine Fisheries in Cambodia

Fig. 6. Cross-border distribution of marine fishery products from study villages. Study villages [ ],], international boundary [], distribution from Trapeang Ropov
destinations [ ], main road [], distribution from Ou Krasar [], and distribution from Angkaol [].
[informed us that they distributed marine ﬁsheryproducts, including fresh shrimp larger than
7.0 cm, boiled swimming crab meats, and steamed
short mackerel to Thailand through the Cham
Yeam border. The fresh shrimp were properly
packed soon after arrival at the store（mostly inthe morning ）. The primary intermediary
gathered boiled crab meat（3‒5 kg/holder/day）from the villagers and transported one ton ofthem per day to Thailand. They usually conduct
this transportation 15 days per month. Freshshrimp, boiled crab meat, and steamed shortmackerel were supplied to restaurants andmarkets in Thailand. Cross-border transportation
through the Cham Yeam border was mostly
performed in the late afternoon or in theevening. Therefore, landing of the exported
fishery product in the fishing villages was
performed at 6 to 7 AM based on the packaging
and transportation times.
The medium-scale intermediary in Trapeang

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CHIN Leakhena, Mina HORI, Tsutom MIYATA, Hiroshi SAITO, PHEN Bunthoeun, Satoshi ISHIKAWA

Ropov village owned a van or a truck. They
gathered steamed short mackerel and shrimp
from one local processed house in the village andtransported them to the Cham Yeam border bythemselves. Detailed amounts of these exports
were not recorded at these sites. In the low
fishing season, some intermediaries conduct
jointed transportation because of the small
amount of fishery products（less than 500 kg/
intermediary）.

from the end of May to October due to the
supply amounts of fishery products; 3）market
demands and events; the prices usually going up
during the national holidays and tourist seasons,
were suggested as three major terms aﬀecting
the price of marine ﬁshery products in Cambodia（Table 4 ）. The freshness of marine fisheryproducts is taken into account for theirpostharvest treatments by fishers, although it
had low eﬀects on price decisions.

The primary intermediaries in Angkaol and
Ou Krasar villages informed us that theytransported 15 ％ and 10 ％ of shrimp purchased
to the Preaek Chak border every day, although
the exact amount has not been reported. The
sizes of the shrimps exported through Preaek
Chak were 3.0‒6.0 cm when fresh. At the Preaek
Chak border, foam boxes with ice or plastic
baskets attached to a motorcycle were used totransport shrimp（Figs. 3 and 5）. The processor
in Viet Nam dried the fresh shrimp before
selling them to the markets.

Catch amounts, ﬁshing season, and prices

The intermediaries operating businesses inboth countries resold ﬁshery products exported
to ﬁnal destinations. The payment between theintermediaries was made directly by cash
exchange, but in a few cases, it was done
indirectly through the drivers of the vehicles.

Price decision system
The formal price decision system for marine
fishery products was not found in interviews
and field surveys in Cambodia. In many cases,
the unit price of each species was decided
through the negotiation between the sellers andbuyers, where 1）the size of the ﬁshery product;
bigger sizes being sold at a higher price,
followed by medium size, and the small sizes
being sold at the lowest price; 2）ﬁshing seasons;fish prices being lower in the dry season from
November to April than in the rainy season

Although the fishery seasons of the target
species differed, fishery activities andproductivity were affected by weather
conditions. Fishers in the study villages usuallyconduct approximately 25 daytrips of fishing
operations per month during the dry season（high season）and 10‒15 daytrips per month
during the rainy season（low season）. Based on
the balance between supply and demand, theunit prices of ﬁshery products in the low season
were higher than those in the high season（Table 4）. Seasonal changes in the unit price ofshort mackerel fluctuated greatly, and many
short mackerels were usually caught during thepeak ﬁshing season from November to January;
however, the supply of this species is insuﬃcientduring the low season. Therefore, the highest
unit price of this species was observed during
the low season and fell during the peak season（Table 4）.
During national holidays and the Chinese New
Year, high unit prices of many species wereshown because of the high demand of markets,
especially in the prices of shrimp, mantis shrimp,
swimming crabs, mud crabs, squid and cuttleﬁsh,octopus, and mullet.
Post-harvest treatments, freshness, and prices

Mantis shrimp, swimming crabs, mud crabs,
freshwater prawns, groupers, seabass, and blood
cockles were sold alive, and shrimp, squid,
cuttlefish, octopus, Indian threadfin, fourfinger

Fishery Catch Distributions of Small-Scale Marine Fisheries in Cambodia

threadﬁn, Spanish mackerel, short mackerel, andstingray were sold in ice in the normal
distribution channel （Fig. 2 ）. However, theﬁshers in the research area did not perform any
treatments on their catch to maintain freshness
for the 4 or 6 hours on their boats until landing
after fishery catch, because freshness was nothighly related to lower prices of the particularﬁshery products.
In the case of trawl ﬁshers, they usually used
ice to maintain the quality of their catch of
shrimp, squid, octopus, cuttleﬁsh, and small ﬁsh,which were kept in ice boxes or ice rooms on
the boats. The trawlers used containers filledwith seawater to keep the grouper, seabass,
mantis shrimp, and swimming crab alive. Some
fishers targeting squid and shrimp hold theopinion that ice is an important item to maintainthe quality of their catches, and they knew wellthat their target species were quite fragile after
being ﬁshed and that low quality caused lower
prices.
Negotiation between ﬁshers and primary intermediaries

The results of this study show that almost all
types of marine ﬁshery products are purchasedby intermediaries（Table 2）, and most primaryintermediaries set the price for marine fisheryproducts when they deal with ﬁshers based on
their patron-client relationships. Some fishers
were in debt from intermediaries when they had
purchased fishing boats, fishing gears, engines,
and/or fuels for fishing activities. The in-debt
fishers agreed to give priority to selling theirfishery products to their creditors. In the six
villages, 146 of 228 fishers had loans fromintermediaries and made contracts to sell theirﬁshery products to the creditors with priority.
Although 59 of the 82 fishers in the villages
were not in debt, they sold their ﬁshery catch tothe intermediary at the same price as in-debt
fishers due to poor access to markets and low
sales abilities of ﬁshers. The demand for ﬁsheryproducts in the villages is always below thecatch, so there is not enough market in theneighborhoods. Tourists did not constantly visit
the villages and landing sites, and the number oftourists was insuﬃcient, especially on weekdays.
Fishers must conduct ﬁshing activities as muchas possible to obtain the income required fordaily livings; they do not have enough time tosell their fishery catch in remote areas. In
addition, fishers ʼ household members werepredominantly males who were not familiar withthe selling and bargaining of ﬁshery products.
Of the 228 respondent ﬁshers, 23, mostly trawl
operators who were not in debt, could supply
many ﬁshery products and also sold their ﬁsheryproducts to the primary intermediary, but theprices were decided through negotiations. To
use scale merits, the intermediary must collectcertain amounts of fishery products for every
deal. The primary intermediary in Trapeang
Ropov village usually collected 1‒2 tons ofﬁshery products per day and 100‒400 kg per day
in the high and low seasons, respectively. The
primary intermediaries in the Chrolong andPreaek Pras villages usually collected fish
catches from 60 to 150 kg per day in the highseason and from 20 to 60 kg per day in the low
season. The intermediaries in Angkaol and Ou
Krasar villages received fishery products from100 to 200 kg and from 30 to 60 kg per day inthe high and low seasons, respectively. However,fishery products from small-scale fishers
fluctuate greatly owing to changes in weather
conditions. During strong windy days, itdrastically dropped, and it became quite diﬃcult
for the intermediary to collect enough fisheryproducts from small-scale fishers in thesevillages, with the exception of trawlers. Thus,
the trawlers would have relatively high powerin t he pr ice- ma k ing pr ocesses w it h t heintermediary.
In the case of giant freshwater prawns in
Chrolong village, fishers did not face pricebargaining with intermediaries, because
freshwater prawns were caught during the

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CHIN Leakhena, Mina HORI, Tsutom MIYATA, Hiroshi SAITO, PHEN Bunthoeun, Satoshi ISHIKAWA

rainy season（June-October）when the consumer
in the country has the highest demand forfishery products. Thus, the prices of the
freshwater prawns were satisfied for bothfishers and intermediaries. Giant freshwater
prawns were sold at 100,000 KHR/kg or USD 25
for female prawn（10.0 cm in average size）and
120,000 KHR/kg or USD 30 for the male prawn（12.0 cm in average size）.
In the case of mantis shrimp, size was themain factor in price decisions. Some fishers
explained that they could sell mantis shrimp
over 17.0 cm in size at high prices. Some primaryintermediaries in the study villages revealed thatthe highest value among marine ﬁshery products
was large mantis shrimp of more than 17.0 cm insize, which traded at 120,000 KHR or USD 30 in
the high production season and 200,000 KHR or
USD 50 in the low production season.

and low （August to March ）seasons wereapproximately 3,000‒4,000 KHR/kg（Table 4）.
Additionally, there were unit price variations ofshort mackerel due to differences in sizes of
products: smaller sizes（18.0 cm in fork length）
were traded at cheaper prices than larger ones
（20.0 cm in fork length）in both seasons. The
prices of Singapore vinegar crab were suggested
by ﬁshers prior to negotiations with processors.
Fishers decided the ﬁrst proposed prices basedon catch amounts and ﬁshery seasons, as in thecase of short mackerel. However, the fishingseasons of this species were diﬀerent from thoseof the short mackerel, and the prices of thisspecies are usually higher from April to Octoberthan those from November to March, and theprice gaps varied around 2,000‒5,000 KHR/kg（Table 4）.
Price decision between ﬁshers and end consumers

Price decision between ﬁsher and retailer

In the six villages, 30 of 271 fishers（11.1 ％ ）sold their catches to the retailer after landing（Fig. 2）
. In the trade of marine ﬁshery products
between fishers and retailers, the prices were
initially suggested by fishers based on thebalance of their costs and catch amounts per
trip. In strong winds and/or heavy rain days,
fishers could not arrive at their target fishinggrounds because of the low capacity of fishingboats; hence, the volumes of ﬁshery catch were
small, and the price requested by fishers washigher than usual. However, most of the time,the income per trip was not enough to meet
operating costs on days with rough weather.

There were 21 ﬁshers who sold their catch toend consumers by themselves in the villages andtheir landing sites. Most of them stated thatselling their catch to end consumers is more
proﬁtable for them than selling to other buyers,
including intermediaries and retailers. The end
consumers purchased many kinds of marine
fishery products for household consumption（Table 2）, and the mixed ﬁsh were purchased as
feed for livestock and aquaculture. The prices
for end consumers were always decided throughnegotiation between ﬁshers and buyers, and theprice was usually set at a level agreed upon byboth parties.
Price negotiations between primary intermediary andPrice decision between ﬁsher and processor

buyersIn the research area, processors purchased
only short mackerel and Singapore vinegar crab
（Table 2）. The prices of these two species in the
trade between fishers and processors were
decided by fishers based on the sizes of the
products and ﬁshing seasons. The price gaps ofshort mackerel between the high（April to July）

The intermediary sold their purchased marine
products 2,000‒20,000 KHR/kg higher than theprice at the time of purchase, based on the costsof transporting and selling （Table 4 ）. Thetransportation and selling costs of marine ﬁsheryproducts differed among different kinds ofmarine products. Some intermediaries said that

Fishery Catch Distributions of Small-Scale Marine Fisheries in Cambodia

the species and size of the product aﬀected thecosts; however, detailed information was notcollected in this study.
The results of this study revealed the diﬀerent
power of price decisions between medium-and
small-scale intermediaries; the medium ones
usually had much power to set the price.
The intermediary sold purchased marine
products to retailers, end customers, and crossborder traders. The intermediary usually
decided the prices in trades with retailers andend customers; they offered 200‒1,000 KHR/kg
cheaper prices to the retailers than the end
consumers, because the retailers purchased
much more ﬁshery products than consumers. In
the case of cross-border trade, the imported side
had priority to decide the price; however, sinceboth parties had a long-standing relationshipwith mutual trust, the prices were usually set ata satisfactory level for both parties.

Discussion
Domestic distribution of marine ﬁsheryproducts from small-scale ﬁsheryIn the study villages, the marine catches were
distributed by intermediaries, retailers,
processors, and consumers （Fig. 2 ）. Theintermediary in the ﬁshing villages played a keyrole in collecting and distributing marine ﬁsheryproducts as the primary trader at the starting
points. The primary intermediaries collectedﬁshery catches from the ﬁshers and resold themto the secondary intermediaries who carried out
fishery product distributions outside of thevillages. The importance and role of theintermediary have been reported in the inland
freshwater fisheries of Cambodia（Sok, 2005;
Seng, 2 0 0 6; Hori., 2 0 0 9 ）. The normal
distribution channel to the intermediary, retailer,
processor, and end consumer has also beenreported in inland freshwater fisheries in
Cambodia（Nao., 2001; Sok, 2005; Seng, 2006;. Similar importance of theHori., 2009 ）intermediaries would be thought in case ofmarine fishery, as the same functions of themwere found in both ﬁsheries distribution systems.
Women, usually the wives and/or family
members of fishers, are highly responsible forretailing and reselling to end consumers ofmarine products. These womenʼs activities are
similar to those of inland ﬁshery products（Hori., 2009）. The places of selling both fisheryproducts to end consumers were roadsides and/or fishersʼ houses（Fig. 3）, and bicycles wereused to transport small amounts of fisheryproducts to the markets and to sell places at
short distances. These activities are usuallyconducted by women in both ﬁsheries.
The large differences in the distribution
systems between the marine and inland ﬁsheryproducts in Cambodia appear in the existence/
absence of wholesale markets in urban areas.
For marine fishery products, no wholesalemarkets were found in this survey; however, thewholesale markets named Chrang Chamres forthe inland ﬁshery products is located in Phnom
Penh（Hori, 2008）. The Chrang Chamres Market
is open twice per day from 0‒4 and 12‒15 oʼclock, and huge amounts of the inland fisheryproducts from capture fishery and aquaculture
are gathered and then redistributed to many
final destinations, including other city markets,processors, retailers, and end consumers.
According to Sok （2 0 0 5 ）, marine fisheryproducts are not sold at the Chrang Chamres
Wholesale Market, but are directly sold to retailmarkets and end consumers, which is the maincause of the diﬃculty in estimating the amountof marine ﬁshery products（Sok, 2005）.
Sokhan（2002）and Seng（2006）reported thatthe foreign markets represented the major
markets for marine fisheries products of
Cambodia. They concluded the reason why theforeign market being the main sales place of themarine product was domestic unpopularity ofseafood. However, in this study, larger amounts

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CHIN Leakhena, Mina HORI, Tsutom MIYATA, Hiroshi SAITO, PHEN Bunthoeun, Satoshi ISHIKAWA

of marine fishery products being tradeddomestically than those for exportation（Table 2
and 4）, a few amounts of the marine fisheryproducts including fresh shrimps at larger size
more than 7.0 cm in standard length, steamed
short mackerel, and boiled meat swimming crab
were exported to Thailand, and small fresh
shrimps between 3.0 to 6.0 cm in standard length
were sold to Viet Nam. In addition, while
multiple routes for domestic seafoodtransportation reported in this study, exports tooverseas were carried out only at particularvillages （Fig. 6 ）. The difference from theprevious studies seems to be due to the increasein domestic consumption of marine products inrecent years. Such rapid changes in logistics willcontinue to be alienated in response to changes
in the tourism industry. It will be necessary tocontinuously monitor these changes in marine
fish and shellfish markets and transportationroutes to understand changes of the demand of
seafoods in order to ensure sustainable coastal
development and domestic food safety.
The demand for marine ﬁshery products has
been rising in domestic consumption since 2013
（Nen Chamroeun, Director of Provincial
Department of Agriculture, Forestry and
Fisheries, Preah Sihanouk province pers. Comm,
2021; FiA, 2021）. This rising demand has raised
prices, which has led to shortages of particularmarine products, including swimming crabs,
mud crabs, mantis shrimp, shrimp, squid, andoctopus. As a countermeasure for theseshortages, aquaculture has been promoted in the
coastal areas of Cambodia, and its products will
increase（FiA, 2017）. After a drastic increase inmarine fishery products, including aquaculture
products, changes in the distribution systems ofmarine fishery products, including theestablishment of a wholesale market, may occur
in the near future. For sustainable ruraldevelopment in coastal areas and ensure thequantitative and qualitative safety of seafood, thedistribution changes and handling of marine

ﬁshery products in the markets and distribution
channels should be monitored constantly.
Monitoring and data collection of these changes
should be conducted through collaborations offishers, intermediaries, government staff, andresearchers, because these changes happen
rapidly with high variation, and oﬃcial reporting
systems cannot keep up（Ishikawa., 2017）.

Transportation methods and facilities.
In this survey, trucks and vehicles with ice
boxes were used for transportation of marine
ﬁshery products from ﬁshing villages, which was
similar to the practice of inland fisheries in
Chhnok Tru village, Kampong Chhnang Province（Hori, 2008）. However, better storage systems
equipped with refrigerators were used for theinland fishery products in the Rong Kluea
market of Aranyaprathet District, Sa Kaeo
Province, in Thailand（Hori, 2008）. Small Thaicompanies transporting seafood products to thecapital city of Lao PDR and other cities used 1.5ton trucks with iceboxes and 10-ton trucks
equipped with a freezer （­ 18 degrees ）tomaintain the quality of the products（Ishikawa., 2008）. There is a lack of cold chain facilities
for transporting marine fishery products not
only in Cambodia, but some practices to develop
cold chains have been implemented inneighboring countries. Therefore, the diﬀerencesin the storage facilities and equipment of marine
fishery products among Cambodia andneighboring countries, including Thailand, should
be considered when planning rural development.
This contrast might reveal specific issues thatneed to be addressed realistically. The exportsof alive ﬁsh in the seawater containers to Hong
Kong and Thailand by air were mentioned in
Sokhan's report in 2002, no other transportation
method was found in this study. This no change
would be derived from the decrease of fish
catches and increase of the domestic demand ofmarine ﬁshery products.

Fishery Catch Distributions of Small-Scale Marine Fisheries in Cambodia

Price decision systems
The prices of marine fishery products are
generally decided through negotiations between
sellers and buyers in Cambodia. The species andsizes of the products and seasons strongly
affected prices, with larger products generally
treated as high-value than smaller ones, but theirfreshness had little effect on price decisions.
During the dry season from November to April,
prices of the marine products were lower thanduring the rainy season from the end of May to
October due to the supply of fishery products（Table 4）, and the prices also rise sharply on
national holidays and weekends because of thehigh demands of national tourists in the coastal
zones. These seasonal ﬂuctuations in the demandand prices of fishery products have beenreported in inland fisheries in Cambodia（Hori,
2008）, and in the last 16 years, those changes inmarine fisheries in other countries, including
Thailand, have also been reported（Khy, 2006;
Tiaye., 2018）.
The relationship between the seller and buyer
also aﬀects the price decision of marine ﬁsheryproducts. Although ﬁshers have equal powers todefine prices as retailers, processors, and end
consumers, the intermediaries usually holdhigher power in price decisions than fishers
based on the debt fishers owe to theintermediaries. They are widely recognized as
patron-client relationships, which have beenreported in inland fisheries in Cambodia andcoastal fisheries in Thailand（Yim and Bruce,
2003; Hori., 2009; Arimoto., 2017 ）.
Therefore, the intermediary can sometimes
determine lower prices in the ﬁshery catch thanin the markets. Although there was no writtenagreement between intermediaries as creditors
and ﬁshers, ﬁshers had less chance to sell theircatch to other buyers due to the small numberof intermediaries in the ﬁshing villages. Tiaye. 2018）mentioned that a buyerʼs power would（

eventually increase when the number of buyers
is small. Hori.（2009）reported that theinland ﬁshers at Chhnok Tru village can choosebuyers even if they borrowed money from theintermediaries, because many intermediaries
conduct their business at the site. The joint salesof small-scale fisheries combine the power ofselling and provide a constant supply to
consumers （Fushimi and Watanabe, 2 0 1 7;
Mochizuki, 2020）. Although the ratio of ﬁshersʼ
household to the intermediaries in Rayong ofThailand was 3:1 based on the mode value（Tiaye., 2018）, those of in the six villages
were smaller as follows; 20:1 for Trapeang
Ropov, 14:1 for Trapeang Sangkae, 19:1 forAngkaol, 16:1 for Ou Krasar, 15:1 for Preaek
Pras, and 9:1 for Chrolong（Table 1）. It wassuggested that increase of the competitions
among buyers would give ﬁshers more options
to sell their fishery products and this could
result to increase more fair price trades ofﬁshery products in case of the study in Chhnok
Tru village, Kampong Chhnang Province（Hori., 2009）. Therefore, increasing the number of
traders and improving the market access offishers would be the development targets incoastal ﬁshery villages.
The wives or relatives of fishers sold theirfishery catches directly to the end consumers
and retailers, and the prices of the fisheryproducts were decided based on the negotiations
between sellers and buyers. Arimoto. 2017）（suggested that the improvement of management
skills of fishers can contribute to fair prices ofﬁshery products and generate more income forﬁshers. The importance of developing womenʼsskills to facilitate their participation in productive
work, leadership performance, and fullengagement in community development has
been suggested（Eskola and Gasperini, 2009）.
The Royal Government of Cambodia（RGC）also
r e c o g n i z ed t h e i m p o r t a n c e o f e c o n o m i cempowerment of women, which has beenprioritized in the RGCʼs agenda and reﬂected in

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CHIN Leakhena, Mina HORI, Tsutom MIYATA, Hiroshi SAITO, PHEN Bunthoeun, Satoshi ISHIKAWA

national policies, including national programs
addressing agriculture, rural development, andland management reform. Under the umbrella of
the Gender Mainstreaming Policy and Strategy
in the agricultural sector of the Ministry ofAgriculture, FiA formulated an action plan for
promoting gender equality in fisheries in 2016,
and “the promotion of gender roleʼs economic
empowerment through good practices ofcommunity ﬁsheries management” has been oneof the key objectives to achieve the plan
（Ministry of Womenʼs Aﬀairs, 2019; FiA, 2016）.
Therefore, gender aspects in coastal fisheries
would also be a major topic for future studies.

Way forwards
The importance of the involvement of theintermediary in ﬁshery management for ﬁsheries
has been suggested for inland ﬁsheries（Hori. , 2 0 0 9 ; I s h i k a wa., 2 0 1 7 ）. As theintermediary has several roles and responsibilities
in the distribution of marine fishery products
revealed in this study, their involvement in ruraldevelopment and marine fishery management
should be considered. In addition, therelationships between market demands and end
consumers, which were not treated deeply inthis survey, should be taken into consideration
for rural development plans.
As the Crab market in Kep Province has
succeeded in improving fishers ʼ livelihoods,
expanding this kind of direct selling place andimproving the skills of ﬁshers will be considered,and the impacts on societies will be examined infuture studies. The roles of women will also behighlighted in rural economies, because theincrease in women ʼ s participation could
contribute to poverty reduction and economic
growth（Morrison., 2007; FAO, 2013）.
It was revealed in this study that many
aspects of marine ﬁshery in Cambodia have beenchanged over the decades. This includes thenature of trading and distribution, nutritionalsources for human consumption moving from
freshwater ﬁsh to marine ﬁsh, creative ideas topromote local markets to provide fresh seafood
directly to consumers, and innovative concepts
to use digital technology to conduct marketingof marine fishery products, which could
contribute to peopleʼs well-being. Interestingly,
this parallels some activities in the Blue
Economy, including eco-tourism and renewableenergy businesses, which have been gaining
worldwide attention recently. The issues of
expanding the relationships between small-scalemarine ﬁsheries in Cambodia and other sectors
will gain importance. This social and economicchange would happen in Cambodia and othercountries. In this regard, research in Cambodia
can provide several good examples for othercountries because there is much room forchange.
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Mochizuki, M.（2020）Chapter 3 A Long Standing Institution.
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和文要旨
カンボジア沿岸の 6 つの漁村における海産物の

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CHIN Leakhena, Mina HORI, Tsutom MIYATA, Hiroshi SAITO, PHEN Bunthoeun, Satoshi ISHIKAWA

流通と価格設定システムについて，個々の漁家へのインタビューとグループディスカッションによる情報収集を行った。データは 290 世帯と 17 の販売業者から入手した。カンボジアでの水産物の流通には，漁業者，流通業者，小売業者，消費者が関わっており，特定の制度化された流通システ
ムは認められなかった。海産物の価格は，売り手と買い手の間での交渉によって決められるが，価格決定においては，売り手と買い手の関係性，漁獲物の種類，漁期が影響を与えている。6 つの村の海産物は，プノンペン，シェムリアップ，コン
ポンスプー，コンポンチャム，コンポントムなどの内陸都市に流通しており，さらに，3 つの村での漁獲物は，タイとベトナムへと輸出されていた。

Fishery Catch Distributions of Small-Scale Marine Fisheries in Cambodia

Form of request for interview permission（Households）

1. Interview date and time :Interviewer name :2. Survey site : Fishing village/commune/district :3. Province :1 Kampot
2 Kep
3 Preah Sihanouk1）Target individual of this questionnaire: Community ﬁsheries households（head/members, must livein CFi/village and engage in ﬁshing/ﬁshing related activities）
2）Introduction of interview: Greetings, I am
and we are conducting a survey in yourvillage. The aim of this survey is to find out the fish trade and distribution in marine small-scaleﬁsheries. The conclusion of this survey depends on your responses. Could you give us sometime andcooperate with us?
3）My name is :relationship with household head :＊Phone number :sex :I live in :I am participating voluntarily in the survey titled “”.
I know and understand that:a）This is the survey is for PhD study of Ms. CHIN Leakhena, under Tokai University of Japan.
b）The main purpose of this survey is to describe the distribution of marine ﬁshery catches andissues related topic practiced in our village.
c）All information collected and respondent ʼ s personal information will be treated with
conﬁdentially, and will only be used for PhD research purpose. Research results will be publicly
revealed.

Name of respondent

Name of interviewer

Signature of respondent

Signature of interviewer

Date（day/month/year）

25