Dai Fishing
ByThe wide brown Tonle Sap River seemed alive with fish. Millions upon millions of small white fish were migrating down the river from the great lake and then up the Mekong toward Laos. For some reason this mass migration is triggered by the full moon and for four months around December the rivers seethed with fish on the two or three days around the full moon.
This annual phenomenon is well known here and vital to the people of Cambodia; so huge fixed nets are constructed in the Tonle Sap River near Phnom Penh. The mouth of each net is 25 metres square and held open by a bamboo frame. The fish simply swim into the net and down the 150 metre long net to the end, where there is a crane on a bamboo raft. On the raft this crane is used to lift the end net full of fish and empty it into waiting boats.
We watched under warm clear blue skies as the end nets bulging with half a tonne of silvery fish were lifted and emptied every ten minutes. During the migration this rate of harvesting goes on day and night for five days at each of four full moon periods. What is incredible is that there were seven of these Dai fishing nets across the river. Upstream were another seven sets of nets and rafts and yet another seven down stream. That will give you some idea of the tonnage of fish harvested at this time of year. We’ve no idea why it is called Dai fishing, certainly nothing to do with a Welshman.
The manager of the particular Dai fishing raft we were on had been working day and night for three days and was exhausted. The boats collecting the fish waited at the end of the raft and were called forward one at a time to be filled by jumping, flapping squirming fish.
Fish in some form contributes about 70% of the protein needs of the people. So this huge harvest is essential. The problem is how to preserve all these fish for the rest of the year. Well, they are dried, smoked, boiled, salted, sweetened, pickled and of course made into Prahoc fish paste, which we’ve already described. They are also processed into fish sauce and fish oil. On the banks of the river fish were spread everywhere to dry in the hot sun.
Naturally this open net system catches everything. When the nets are emptied into the small boats the catch is sorted to separate the more valuable species from the migrating white fish. Occasionally even the huge 350 kg Mekong Catfish are caught but these are tagged and released as they are an endangered species. Last year one was so badly injured it died and its body was handed over to the Fisheries Administration for study, have a look at the picture.
We are often asked if the fresh water fish are being over fished in Cambodia. Well last year there were record catches. So there is no sign of fish stocks declining yet. Part of the credit for this are the actions being taken by the Fisheries Administration to preserve habitats and crack down on illegal fishing which captures the young fish.
The biggest threats to Cambodia’s freshwater fisheries are the dams being built in China, Vietnam and Laos. If the water level of the Mekong is prevented from rising the waters will not flood into the Great Lake. This will then reduce the number of fish spawning and the catch will inevitably decline. This could be disastrous for the people of Cambodia unless other food sources are identified.
