KAMPONG PHULUK, Cambodia (Reuters) – Fisherman Siem Huat has watched fish stocks in Cambodia’s majestic Tonle Sap lake dwindle in recent years, and with them, his family’s only source of income.
Experts say extreme weather caused by climate change, ecological disruption from dam-building, wetland conversion and overfishing threatens food supplies and livelihoods for millions of people who depend on Southeast Asia’s largest lake.
“Sometimes it rains in the wrong months or it’s so hot that I can’t go out to fish,” said Siem Huat, 45, as he waded through the mangroves to pull up nets containing disappointingly few fish. Was sailing his boat from.
The Mekong River usually swells during the rainy season as it meets Cambodia’s Tonle Sap River, creating an unusual reverse flow into Tonle Sap Lake that fills Tonle Sap Lake and creates abundant fish stocks. produces.
But in recent years, the reversal has been delayed or disrupted, so that those who depend on the lake for a living are finding themselves in a fight for survival.
“There are days when I struggle to earn enough to buy rice or cover the cost of gasoline to return home,” said Sir Mom, a 43-year-old fish seller whose typical daily income in a year Dropped to just $5. $25.
Cambodian authorities are now making efforts to educate fishing communities about responsible farming practices, cutting water pollution and switching to fish farming or aquaculture.
Cambodia is one of the low-emitting, vulnerable countries calling on developed countries to take more and better concrete action at the COP28 climate summit in Dubai.