As Cambodia enters fish spawning season, the two prime ministers have ordered an offensive against baby fish traffickers.
“We have to crack down on catching baby fish on time or it will be too late,” Agriculture Minister Tao Seng Huor said Tuesday.
Members of the military have been accused of the practice, which is illegal between May and October. The Aug 4 directive orders the Defense and Interior ministries to withdraw members of the armed forces from areas where theft of baby fish is often rampant, especially in Phnom Penh and the provinces of Kompong Cham, Prey Veng, Kandal and Kompong Chhnang.
Mature fish may be caught in the wild, but young fish are legally protected. Those caught illegally are often kept in captivity and fattened up for a year to be eventually used in paste and soups, according to fisheries officials.
In recent years, overfishing and the illegal capture of young fish have helped to send the country’s fish stocks spiraling downward.
The harvesting of the young fish also costs the government thousands of dollars in lost revenue, said fisheries officials, who argue the capture of baby fish damages the export industry.
But fisheries officials have been stymied at ending the problem, complaining that they lack money and resources to combat the traffickers, who often have armed protection.
Seng Sokim, deputy police chief in Kompong Cham, said fishermen have reportedly been preparing equipment, but not started catching the young fish in large quantities yet. The province’s police forces, he said, are ready to stop it when it begins.
Theft has already begun in Kompong Chhnang province on a small scale, police chief Kong Sokhon said Tuesday. Several hundred baby fish were confiscated at the end of July, he reported. A crackdown is scheduled to begin next week.
