KINGDOM OF CAMBODIA Nation Religion...King ******** Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Department of Fisheries CAMBODIA NATURAL RESOURCES EVALUATION For World Bank Agriculture Productivity Improvement Project (APIP) By So Nam, Tim Savuth and Nao Thuok December 2000 Table of Contents 1. INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................1 1.1 Geography and Resource Base .........................................................................................1 1.2 Climates ............................................................................................................................3 1.2.1 Rainfall......................................................................................................................3 1.2.2 Winds ........................................................................................................................4 1.2.3 Temperature ..............................................................................................................4 1.2.4 Climatic Influences on Agricultural/Fisheries Activities .........................................5 1.3 Population characteristics.................................................................................................5 1.4 Macro-economic setting....................................................................................................6 2. WATER RESOURCES............................................................................................................7 2.1 Surface water Resources...................................................................................................7 2.2 Groundwater Water Resources .........................................................................................7 3. BIODIVERSITY.......................................................................................................................7 3.1 Flora and Fauna.................................................................................................................8 3.1.1 Flora ..........................................................................................................................8 3.1.2 Fauna.........................................................................................................................9 3.2 Freshwater wetlands..........................................................................................................9 3.2.1 Freshwater Fish.......................................................................................................11 3.3 Coastal Ecosystems.........................................................................................................12 3.3.1 Coastal Forests........................................................................................................13 3.3.2 Mangrove and Rear Mangrove Forest ....................................................................13 3.3.3 Marine Zone...........................................................................................................14 3.3.4 Coastal Ecosystem Management ............................................................................15 4. FISHERY STATUS AND RESOURCES ..............................................................................15 4.1 Past, present and projected fisheries production trends..................................................15 4.2 Inland Capture Fisheries .................................................................................................21 4.2.1 Resources...............................................................................................................21 4.2.2 Floodplains of the Mekong/Bassac system.............................................................25 4.2.3 Fish Stocks Protection ............................................................................................25 4.2.4 Environmental Degradation....................................................................................25 4.3 Marine Fisheries.............................................................................................................29 4.3.1 Resources ................................................................................................................29 4.3.2 Crabs .......................................................................................................................33 4.3.3 Shrimps ...................................................................................................................34 4.3.4 Shellfish (mollusk)..................................................................................................35 4.3.5 Mangrove Forest.....................................................................................................35 4.3.6 Coral Reefs..............................................................................................................36 4.4 Aquaculture.....................................................................................................................36 4.4.1 Inland Aquaculture..................................................................................................36 4.4.2 Coastal Aquaculture................................................................................................45 4.4.3 Crocodile Farming ..................................................................................................48 4.4.4 Fish Disease Outbreak ............................................................................................49 5. CONCLUSIONS.........................................................................................................................50 6. RFERENCES..............................................................................................................................51 ii NATURAL RESOURCES EVALUATION IN CAMBODIA Mr. So Nam, Chief of Aquaculture Planning and Coordination Unit, DOF1 Mr. Tim Savuth, Lecturer, Faculty of Fisheries Science, RUA2 Mr. Nao Thuok, Deputy Director of Fisheries Department1 1Department of Fisheries, # 186, Norodom Blvd. P.O. Box 835, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Tel/Fax: +855 23 210 565. E-mail: [email protected]. 2Faculty of Fisheries Science, Royal University of Agriculture, Phnom Penh, Cambodia 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 Geography and Resource Base Cambodia has a land area of 181,035 km2, about 20% of which is used for agriculture. The country’s capital city is Phnom Penh (Table 1.1). International borders are shared with Thailand, Lao and Vietnam. A central plain, drained by the Great Lake and the Mekong and Bassac River systems, contrasts with the Cardamon Mountains in the southeast of the country of Dangrek Mountain in the north along the Thai border. In comparison with its neighbors, Cambodia is a geographically compact country administratively divided in 19 provinces, three of which have relatively short maritime boundaries. The country has a coastline of 435 km and extensive mangrove stands, some of which are relatively undisturbed. The country has widespread forest resources, some of which have important commercial potential. Table 1.1 Land Use in Cambodia. Type of Land Cover Area (km2) Forest 112,342 Other vegetation 25,057 Urban areas 45 Paddy fields 26,097 Receding rice fields 293 Upland crops 4,665 Sweden agriculture 1,856 Orchards 188 Plantation 746 Field crops 5,299 Water surfaces 4,111 Barren lands 336 Total 181,035 Source: Mekong Secretariat, data acquired during dry season 1992-1993 for UNDP/FAO/ADB Cambodia Agriculture Development Options Review. 1 The Mekong River is Cambodia’s largest river. It runs for 486 km and dominates the hydrology of the country. The river originates in China, passes through Myanmar, Lao, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, before entering the South China Sea. The Mekong River that flows through eastern Cambodia and the Tonle Sap River that originates in the lake of the same name (also known as the Great Lake) in the west cut across the country diagonally. The two rivers meet in Phnom Penh and continue to flow as the Bassac and Mekong Rivers into Vietnam. Various other smaller rivers and streams runoff this main drainage system, and are all important for fishing, transportation and provision of alluvial soils through annual flooding (Ebihana, 1968). Table 1.2 shows the areas of the various inland water systems created by the Mekong River. Tables 1.2 Area of various types of land and water resources which support fresh water capture. Type of land and water resource in Area (ha) 1985/87 Area (ha) 1992/93 Cambodia Permanent water (river, lake, pond, etc.) 567 100 411 100 Flooded forest 795 400 370 700 Flooded secondary forest 28 200 259 800 Flooded grassland 80 800 84 900 Receding and floating ricefields 17 500 29 300 Seasonally flooded crop fields 366 800 529 900 Swamp 12 200 1 400 Total 1 868 000 1 687 100 Source: Ahmed et al. (1996) based on Cambodia Land Cover Atlas 1985/87- 1992/93, Mekong Secretariat, Bangkok Note: Besides an overall decline, there were significant changes in the area under different types of land and water resources which support fisheries between 1985/87 and 1992/93. The changes in the area under each type of resource can be attributed to loss of primary flooded forests and timing of the survey between the two periods. The section of Mekong River passing through Cambodia lies within the tropical wet and dry zone. It has a pronounced dry season during the Northern Hemisphere winter, with about 80% of annual rainfall occurring