Chapter I: Introduction 1.1 General introduction The Mekong River, along with its fourteen tributaries, is an essential component of the rural community in Lao PDR. It provides an important source of subsistence for the region, through the supply of animal protein for consumption, such as fish, shrimp, crabs, snails and other aquatic animals. Through fishing, the river provides essential employment and additional household income, as well as supplying water for transportation and agriculture. The decline in fish production in the Mekong River Basin is of increasing concern, not only at the national, but also regional and international levels. Rapid population growth and environmental changes due to the impact of human activity are most likely the main causes of decline in fish numbers (SEAFDEC 2001). Various studies have been undertaken to investigate these issues and to look for alternative solutions to sustainable use of aquatic resources. Fish biology data (fish migration, Catch Per Unit of Effort, hydro-acoustic surveys) and social data (fish production, fish consumption, fish marketing) alone are inadequate for planning and development of natural resources. Indigenous knowledge, however, has shown effective ways to manage fisheries resources in local communities. Differences are evident between the use of scientific based and local knowledge systems. Scientific knowledge is utilised by scientists and is used for decision making at a national level for planning and development. On the other hand, local communities have developed their own management systems based on observation and direct contact with the environment for sustainable development of their resources. However, indigenous knowledge alone is inadequate to deal with fish stock management and planning. There needs to be a certain level of knowledge and technique taken from scientific methods, in addition to local knowledge, to manage fisheries resources in the Mekong River, where the environment is very complex and there are a diversity of fish species. It has been said that the most cost effective way to deal with sustainable development is by combining local knowledge with scientific systems. Geographical Information Systems (GIS) 1 have the capability of storing, analysing and manipulating information in various ways and can be used to integrate these two knowledge systems. In this thesis the focus is on small-scale fisheries management in Khong District, Champasack province. GIS will be applied as the main tool for data analysis and communication. This research will use spatial databases in GIS to record, process and present data and information to assess knowledge systems and form a new knowledge based system that combines qualitative information from indigenous knowledge with quantitative data from scientific knowledge that can then be applied to sustainable natural resource development. 1.2 Background and rational Lao PDR is endowed with rich natural water resources. The Mekong River flows from the most northern to the southernmost part of the country. It drains a catchment area of 795,000 square kilometres, out of which 606,000 square kilometres is the Lower Mekong Basin. It comprises almost the whole of Lao PDR and Cambodia, one third of Thailand, and one fifth of Viet Nam (Figure 1.2) (Coates et al. 2003). The Mekong River has a remarkable diversity of fish. It has been estimated between 12,000 to 17,000 fish species inhabit the Mekong River Basin (Coates et al. 2003). Some 481 species have been documented in Lao PDR (Kottelat 2001) and many more are still awaiting taxonomic identification. The Mekong supports one of the largest inland fisheries in the world. An estimated two million tonnes of fish and other aquatic animals are consumed annually in the Lower Mekong Basin (Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand and Viet Nam). Of this, 1.5 million tonnes originates from catches in natural water-bodies, and 240,000 tonnes from catches in reservoirs. The total value of the catch is an estimated US$1,200 million (Sverdup-Jensen 2002). Fisheries management covers a wide range of issues. Some of the key issues are sustainable production and resource utilisation. In the Lower Mekong Basin, there is a need to introduce sustainable management practices as over-fishing and environmental degradation are problems (Coates et al.2003). Participation of stakeholders and increasing management responsibilities at the local level can be seen to be key approaches to effective fisheries management. 2 Boivin et al. (2003) pointed out that as a tool, GIS and remote sensing data, could make a substantial contribution to monitoring fisheries habitats and wetlands, and also provide complementary information on land-use, weather patterns, flood events and related environmental parameters. GIS can be used for fisheries management to find out where the watersheds are, upstream influences, downstream water quality and quantity, and blocking of waterways influencing fish that go upstream for spawning or to find food (Sjorslev 2000a). GIS operational procedures and analytical tasks are particularly useful for spatial analysis, allowing manipulation of indigenous knowledge systems or traditional fisheries management systems and, presentation and analysis of geographically referenced data of Catch per Unit of Effort (CPUE) / Hydro-acoustic data with indigenous knowledge, which can then be applied in fisheries research and management. During 1993-1997, 64 villages in Khong District, Champasack province established a total of 68 Fish Conservation Zones (FCZs) in deep water sections of the Mekong River (Baird et al. 1999a). These deep river sections, which are often referred to as ‘deep pools’ (Poulsen et al. 2002) allegedly serve as dry season refuges for a large number of both sedentary and migratory fish species. In order to conserve and sustain use of the living aquatic resources of the FCZs and fishing grounds near the village, village communities have established fisheries regulations prohibiting fishing in FCZs the whole year round and restricting use of certain fishing gear (Baird et al. 1999b). Warren (1992) argued that in the past decade, indigenous knowledge has been ignored by decision-makers, due to its unscientific and unsystematic documentation. Whilst researchers and decision-makers have come to recognise the importance of indigenous knowledge, there still remains the question of ownership (Hirsch 2003). In 1993, Catch per Unit of Effort was established to conduct basic research on seasonal fish migration, with the long-term objective of establishing a data series for fisheries monitoring. From 1993 to 1997 technical and financial support from the International Development and Research Centre of Canada (IDRC) was provided to provincial and district staff of the Department of Livestock and Fishery for conducting CPUE (LARReC 2000a; Singhanouvong et al. 1996a). The CPUE study of wet season migration indicated that this is the main period of 3 downstream movement of pangasid and silurid in the channel known locally as Hoo Som Yai, located just west of the main Phapeng Waterfall. CPUE research into dry season migrations was also carried out at Ban Hat village, Khong district and Ban Hadsalao near Pakse town. The research highlights the upstream migration of small cyprinid groups occurring during January to April (Singhanouvong et al. 1996b). In March 2000, Living Aquatic Resources Research Centre (LARReC) carried out a further assessment survey of FCZs. The aim of this study was to provide scientific evidence to support anecdotal reports referred to during interviews with local people. LARReC initiated a CPUE fisheries monitoring program in four villages in the Khong district, which aimed at understanding the impact of the FCZs on fish abundance and catches (LARReC 2000b). The CPUE data collection in Hoo Som Yai, Ban Hat and Ban Hadsalao will continue until 2006. However, the CPUE data alone is insufficient to support effective management and planning, and a new research method of using hydro-acoustic equipment to investigate the role of deep pools and fish stock was introduced. In 2002, LARReC conducted a hydro-acoustic survey to test the advantages and constraints of using this method to undertake fish biomass assessments in the deep pools and FCZs of the Khong District, Champasack province. Kolding (2000) noticed that hydro-acoustic research methodologies might be particularly useful alone, or in combination with, CPUE data collection, to study deep pools and fish conservation zones in the Mekong. In order to continue research on the possibility of using hydro-acoustic surveys in deep pool areas of Khong Island, between October 2003 and February 2004 the LARReC/NARI project conducted more hydro-acoustic surveys. These aimed at improving understanding of the ecological functioning and significance of deep pools to fish species of the Mekong River; and to clarify if fish abundance and fish behaviour in the sample deep pools could serve as significant indicators of the aquatic ecosystem performance (Phounsavath et al. 2003). According to Kolding (2000) deep pools in the Mekong River appear to be well suited to hydro- acoustic equipment, especially during the low water season when there are moderate currents. Survey results have shown that the method is easily applied, with the possibility of collecting 4 large information over short periods of time. Relative information, such as overall density estimates and general size distributions can be readily collected without doing any harm