Indigenous Fisheries Development and Management
Lao PDR
Australian Mekong Resource Centre
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Dimension 1: Dependence on different water sources for fishing


Different water sources are of differing significance to households in each of the villages during different seasons. In some cases, most or all families in each village show the same patterns of dependence. In others, however, considerable diversity exists within the same village. Figure 4 shows the Mekong to be the most significant source of fish for most families in Don Kho, but not to those in the other three villages, during the wet season. This dependence in Don Kho increases even more during the dry season (Figure 5). Figure 6 and Figure 7 show the pattern of dependence on the Sedone to be considerably more complex within and between villages, and between seasons. During the wet season, a significant number of villagers in Khamyaad do not fish in the Sedone, and only one family of the 25 interviewed reported the Sedone to be the most important source of fish at this time of year. In Solonoi, more remain dependent on the Sedone during the wet season, but for 11 out of the 25 it is of less that primary importance at this time. No families from Sonphak and Don Kho reported fishing in the Sedone at this time. In the dry season, in contrast, the Sedone becomes the major fishery for all families in Solonoi and all but one in Khamyaad, also for two families who travel some distance from Sonphak.




Mekong fishery, Khone Falls


Sedone River at Solo Noi 		The smaller water sources also show complexity between villages and between seasons in their role as sources of fish. Figure 8 shows small streams to be extremely important sources of fish during the wet season in Khamyaad, Sonphak and Solonoi, in effect compensating for the downturn in Sedone fishing during this period. While this dependence falls off during the dry season, both due to the seasonal nature of stream fisheries and the availability of more significant alternatives, streams remain important for 9 out of the 25 families in Sonphak during this period (Figure 9). Figure 10 and Figure 11 show that pond fisheries are significant in the same three villages, with less seasonal variation, but mainly as secondary or tertiary rather than primary sources of fish for the great majority of families. Meanwhile, ricefields are important for families in all four villages during the wet season, including Don Kho, and are particularly significant for Sonphak (Figure 12). During the dry season, they remain important in Sonphak, but much less so elsewhere except as secondary or tertiary sources of fish for a few families in each village (Figure 13).

In summary, of the four villages, two have a more robust riverine fishery. Don Kho exploits its location on an island in the Mekong River to derive quite a comfortable supplementary livelihood from river fishing which, though seasonal in nature, is not as clearly differentiated between seasons as other fisheries in other locations. Solonoi also derives important subsistence and income benefits from the Sedone fisheries in both seasons, more especially during the latter part of the dry season. In contrast, Khamyaad village, located upstream of the Selabam Dam, has a much less robust fishery, illustrating the significance of the findings that the Selabam Dam is acting as a significant barrier to some major fish species that are found in the other three villages.

Backswamp fishery, Loung Tom

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 Australian Mekong Resource Centre
Division of Geography, University of Sydney
Email: mekong@mail.usyd.edu.au

Last updated
16 July, 2000
© AMRC 2000