Abstract
The Community Fish Refuge (CFR) is a fish conservation measure that is intended to improve the productivity of rice field fisheries and provide safe refuges for fish during the dry season. Cambodia’s Fisheries Administration aims to develop one well-working CFR in every 1200 communes by 2019. This study assesses the current situation of the rice field fisheries in the Srey Snam district, Siem Reap province, examines community members’ awareness of fish refuge management; and examines the socioeconomic impacts of the CFR among its beneficiaries. Data collected by interviewing 120 households reveal that 85 percent of respondents pursued rice field fishery as part-time work, catching on average 5.2 kg of fish daily during the ten-month harvest period. Most fish products were used for home consumption. Total household saving and income from fish production significantly increased after community members joined CFRs. Respondents’ expenditures, savings and assets also increased after CFR intervention, indicating improvements in livelihood. Illegal fishing and budgetary constraint to implementing CFR interventions are the pressing problems facing the users. The paper ends by outlining measures that could help strengthen and sustain CFRs.
Highlights
Fish is a major source of food and cash income for millions of the world’s population
The theoretical framework of this study builds on the premise that common-pool resources (CPRs) such as community fish refuges are complex systems that are often treated as public and open resources that everybody has access to and community members’ knowledge of and participation in their management is paramount to sustain such resources
CPRs, how knowledgeable they are about CPRs (e.g., Community Fish Refuge (CFR)) and whether they have been benefitted from CPRs is paramount
Summary
Fish is a major source of food and cash income for millions of the world’s population. FiA plans to develop one well-functioning CFR in every 1200 communes by 2019 [11] Despite these interventions ongoing for years, there have been no systematic studies on rice field fisheries, about the socioeconomic status of CFR users and their participation in the CFR process. Management (AARM), Freshwater Aquaculture Improvement and Extension Project (FAIEX) projects or the FiA in Svay Rieng, Takeo, Prey Veng, Kampot and Kampong Speu provinces These CFRs were implemented between 1998 and 2008. The theoretical framework of this study builds on the premise that common-pool resources (CPRs) such as community fish refuges are complex systems that are often treated as public and open resources that everybody has access to and community members’ knowledge of and participation in their management is paramount to sustain such resources. CPRs, how knowledgeable they are about CPRs (e.g., CFRs) and whether they have been benefitted from CPRs is paramount
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