Aquaculture Catch and Culture Aquaculture - Environment Fisheries and Environment Research and Development in the Mekong Region Volume 25, No 3 ISSN 0859-290X December 2019 INSIDE l New State of the Basin Report l State of the Upper Mekong Basin l Alarming decline in Mekong sediment l Mekong sand mining l Using drones in fisheries science l Bioplastic bags from fish waste l Educational Supplement: Fish body parts December 2019 Catch and Culture - Environment Volume 25, No. 3 1 Aquaculture Catch and Culture - Environment is published three times a year by the office of the Mekong River Commission Secretariat in Vientiane, Lao PDR, and distributed to over 650 subscribers around the world. The preparation of the newsletter is facilitated by the Environmental Management Division of the MRC. Free email subscriptions are available through the MRC website, www.mrcmekong.org. For information on the cost of hard-copy subscriptions, contact the MRC’s Documentation and Learning Centre at [email protected]. Contributions to Catch and Culture - Environment should be sent to [email protected] and copied to [email protected]. © Mekong River Commission 2019 Editorial Panel: Hak Socheat, Director of Environmental Management Division So Nam, Chief Environmental Management Officer Phattareeya Suanrattanachai, Fisheries Management Specialist Prayooth Yaowakhan, Ecosystem and Wetland Specialist Nuon Vanna, Fisheries and Aquatic Ecology Officer Dao Thi Ngoc Hoang, Water Quality Officer Editor: Peter Starr Designer: Chhut Chheana Associate editor: Michele McLellan The opinions and interpretation expressed within are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Mekong River Commission. The MRC is funded by contributions from its member countries and development partners of Australia, Belgium, the European Union, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, the United States and the World Bank. 2 Catch and Culture - Environment Volume 25, No. 3 December 2019 AquacultureContents Contents 4 The Big Picture (1) New State of the Basin Report 10 The Big Picture (2) State of the Upper Mekong Basin 12 The Big Picture (3) Alarming decline in Mekong sediment raises important questions 16 The Big Picture (4) Mekong sand mining estimated to be worth at least $175 mln a year 20 Conservation Playing cards aim to raise fisheries awareness among students 22 Educational supplement Fish body parts 29 Etymology Understanding the terminology used by fish taxonomists 30 Green bonds Thai company gets THB 3 bln from ADB for country’s largest wind farm 32 Drones Study finds ‘great potential’ for using drones in fisheries science 36 Fish and irrigation Translating the needs of inland fisheries into irrigation decisions to end hunger 40 Bioplastics (1) Student awarded for developing bioplastic bags from fish waste 44 Bioplastics (2) New bioplastics plant in Thailand uses sustainable sugar December 2019 Catch and Culture - Environment Volume 25, No. 3 3 The Big Picture (1) New State of the Basin Report The flagship publication of the Mekong River Commission has just been published with a focus on five areas for future cooperation between Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand and Viet Nam and a new section on the Upper Mekong Basin in China and Myanmar. The latest report highlights an urgent need for a ‘more proactive regional approach’ to planning and management in the Lower Mekong Basin. The Mekong River Commission launched its third State of the Basin Report at the MRC Secretariat in Vientiane on 22 October. The report aims to provide an overall picture of the Mekong River Ba- sin in terms of its ecological health and the social and economic circumstances of its people — and the degree to which cooperation between ripar- ian countries envisaged under the 1995 Mekong MRC Secretariat chief executive officer Dr An Pich Hatda addresses the audience during the launch of the report in Agreement is enhancing these conditions. Vientiane on October 22 Unlike previous reports in 2003 and 2010, the new Photo: MRC report for 2018 is structured around environment, social, economic, climate change and cooperation monitoring of river flow “must be put in place ur- dimensions with 15 strategic indicators for the Low- gently to address these basin-wide challenges,” the er Mekong Basin that have been agreed to by MRC statement said. member countries — Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thai- land and Viet Nam (see page 7). The latest report “We need to address these issues now,” said Dr also includes a new section on the Upper Mekong An Pich Hatda, chief executive officer at the MRC Basin in China and Myanmar, both dialogue part- Secretariat. He highlighted the need to “minimize ners of the MRC (see page 10). further environmental harm and protect remain- ing wetlands and riverine habitats before they are ' We need to address gone, while leveraging the benefits of more secure these issues now' and increased dry-season flows and achieving a more optimal and sustainable development of the Mekong basin.” In a statement accompanying the launch, the MRC Secretariat said major challenges highlighted in the The statement noted “increased cooperation among report included the apparent permanent modifica- riparian countries to tackle these challenges, espe- tion of the Mekong’s mainstream flow regime and cially under the MRC framework where financial a “substantial” reduction in sediment flows due to contributions from members to fund MRC critical sediment trapping. Other challenges included con- work, notifications and information sharing, and the tinuing loss of wetlands, deterioration of riverine number of joint projects have all increased. While habitats, growing pressures on capture fisheries challenges are increasing for the Mekong River, the and limited information-sharing on water develop- overall economic conditions in the basin are posi- ment facilities and water use. tive with solid economic growth, poverty reduction and productivity improvement.” A more proactive regional approach to basin plan- ning and management, with an enhanced and sys- Recommendations tematic information sharing mechanism and robust Below is a summary of six recommendations con- 4 Catch and Culture - Environment Volume 25, No. 3 December 2019 The Big Picture (1) The Mekong River Basin The Mekong Basin Map: MRC (2019) December 2019 Catch and Culture - Environment Volume 25, No. 3 5 The Big Picture (1) Urgent Priority 1: Wetlands and river habitats The Lower Mekong Basin wetlands are biodiversity The condition of river habitats can be considered hotspots that play an important role in the econ- by examining the status and trends of some key omy, society and culture of the region due to the habitat types important for fish and other biodiver- resources and ecosystem services they provide. sity within the river channel and in the riparian zone. They offer various non-marketed and marketed The extent of riverbank erosion is also an indicator benefits including fisheries, other aquatic animals of the balance of sediment supply and transport rel- and plants, vegetation, and non-timber forest prod- evant to healthy geomorphological function. ucts. Local people and communities obtain a sub- stantial proportion of their incomes, daily foods and Within the river channel, exposed sandy habitats livelihoods from these resources. are important for vegetation, herpetofauna and birds in the dry season. The availability of such hab- Wetlands protect people and cities from floods and itats depends on the creation and maintenance of natural disasters; clean wastewater flowing out of sandbars, banks and islands through alluvial depo- urban, agriculture and industrial areas; and store sition, and the exposure of the deposits in the dry water for irrigated agriculture. Ecosystem services season. Inundated sandy habitats are an important include water provision, regulation, purification, indicator for riverine health as many insects require and groundwater replenishment. a sandy substrate for life-cycle processes. Despite the substantial benefits they provide, the Deep pools are important geomorphic features, wetlands are threatened and being gradually de- providing refuge and spawning habitats for a vari- graded. With population growth, there have been ety of fish species. It has been found that sediment impacts on wetlands with reclamation and conver- pulses move through bedrock pools in northern sion to rice fields, increased urban runoff, increased Lao PDR on an annual basis, highlighting the link riverine navigation, intensification of agriculture between the sediment and flow regimes for main- and aquaculture with increased use of fertilizer and tenance of the features. Given the dependency of pesticide and increased discharge of urban waste these features on the balance between the timing water. Developments such as expanding agricul- and magnitude of flow and sediment delivery in the tural and urban/industrial areas with year-round LMB, deep pools can also be considered as good flood protection puts pressure on the remaining geomorphic indicators of channel function. wetlands. The MRC has estimated that less than two percent of the original wetland area in the Me- Estimates from 2017 show a decline in the avail- kong Delta remains. ability of exposed sand bars and rocky habitats and an increase in the depth of deep pools in the dry Eleven types of wetland have been identified with season since 1985. This is attributed to higher dry- an area of 102,386 km2. The largest type is fresh- season water levels and the greater erosive pow- water wetlands which include flooded forests and er of the flow due to the more sediment-depleted inundated grasslands, and areas around the Tonle water originating from upstream. In all mainstream Sap and elsewhere used for recession rice agricul- zones, the extent of both upper and lower riparian ture. A comparison of wetland environments iden- vegetation is estimated to have declined. In most tifies substantial overlap between freshwater wet- areas, much of this decline occurred before the lands and areas of paddy rice, particularly around 1970s. However, river bank vegetation along the the Tonle Sap and in the Mekong Delta.