A drop-off in fish stock in unseasonably low Cambodian rivers this season has caused a severe price increase that could affect the poor throughout the cultivation season, officials warned this week.
But top fisheries officials also blamed smuggling and “middleman opportunists” for driving up the price of fish more than threefold to 500 riel per kg.
Prahok, a fermented fish sauce that is a staple food for three out of 10 Cambodians, as a result likely will find its way onto fewer plates this year, officials said.
Farmers explained that fish is particularly important to them now to store in jars for the cultivation season in several months, when they are too busy planting to travel to buy or gather food.
And fisheries expert Touch Saeng Tana said that fish is the only source of protein for 70 percent of Cambodians.
Fish buyers at the banks of the Tonle Bassac south of Phnom Penh this week complained that fish prices have jumped to levels beyond their means and the highest in recent memory.
Most said they will make less prahok in their home due to the price increases.
“I made about 100 kg of prahok last year to ferment for eating year-round,” said Dul Voeun, 48, who had traveled from Kompong Speu’s rural Baset district to buy fish. She said her family will try to find a substitute for prahok, like crabs or oysters.
But during the cultivation season, Dul Voeun noted, her family and many others like hers will be busy with farming and not have enough time to look for alternative sources of protein and food.
Touch Seang Tana, former director of the National Project for the Management of Fresh-water Fisheries, said the smuggling has exacerbated a normally difficult time for fishermen.
Most of the fish being caught from the Tonle Sap are being packed up and shipped to Thailand, leaving fewer fish to send to local markets, he said.
About 20,000 tons of fish were exported to Thailand in 1998 as opposed to the 2,000 allowed by authorities, Touch Seang Tana alleged, blaming the Ministry of Agriculture’s department of fisheries for being complicit in the smuggling racket. “If we are able to control smuggling…we can have sustainable development in fish production,” he said.
Nao Thuok, deputy director of the fishery department, rejected the allegation that his officers were involved in the smuggling.
While acknowledging that smuggling is indeed a problem, he attributed the price increase to middlemen who have cornered the market on fish and driven consumer prices. “We are trying to enforce [price controls] and keep the price stable so the poor can manage to buy fish to make prahok.”
