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Mekong=20 News
Uganda: World Wetlands Day = - Will We=20 Have Fish Tomorrow?

Source - The=20 Monitor ( Kampala ), OPINION http://allafrica.com/stories/200702051508.html=20
February 06, 2007

Every January and February, = Cambodia 's=20 Tonle Sap River hosts one of the world's great fishing = spectacles.=20 As it carries the annual floodwaters back to the mainstream = of the=20 Mekong , the river brings hundreds of millions of fish = downstream=20 from Cambodia 's Great Lake .

Waiting for this annual migration, the Dai fishery = operates from=20 platforms strung across the river just upstream from Phnom = Penh .=20 Hundreds of fishing families live on these fishing platforms = during=20 the Dai season and together can catch as much as 14,000 tons = each=20 year.

At its peak in a good year, the Dai fishery has caught 30 = tons=20 per hour, 24 hours per day - a powerful measure of the = productivity=20 of the world's most intensive inland fishery. Stretching = across Laos=20 , Thailand , Cambodia and Vietnam , the lower Mekong Basin = produces=20 over 2.5 million tons of fish each year.

But times are changing. The quality of the Dai fish catch = has=20 declined steadily in recent years, with the valuable bigger = fish=20 becoming more scarce amid concern that a combination of = fishing=20 pressure and environment change threatens the productivity = of the=20 Mekong . Dams on the upstream Mekong and its tributaries, = conversion=20 of wetland habitats around the lake perimeter, and pollution = from=20 agricultural run-off threaten the productivity of this = remarkable=20 ecosystem.

Such worries have parallels elsewhere in the Mekong and=20 throughout the world as concern for the future of the = world's=20 artisanal fisheries and the communities depending on them is = rising=20 sharply.

In celebrating World Wetlands Day on February 2, the = Ramsar=20 Wetlands Convention has focused attention on how much = artisanal=20 fisheries depend on our ability to protect and sustain the=20 productivity of wetlands.

Across the developing world, rivers, lakes and inshore = coastal=20 systems support fisheries that together provide over eight = million=20 tons of fish each year. Many millions of poor people rely on = these=20 fisheries for food, nutrition and income.

In sub-Saharan Africa alone, small-scale fisheries = support the=20 livelihoods and incomes of more than 10 million people, and = provide=20 food for 200 million. Inland fisheries produce more than two = million=20 tons of fish a year, valued at over $1.8 billion at first = sale.

Wetland fisheries provide a powerful demonstration of how = conservation and human development goals coincide. Just as = the=20 fishers of Tonle Sap depend on the diverse wetlands around = the Great=20 Lake and on the annual flood, fishers across the developing = world=20 depend on preserving natural habitats and sustaining water = flow. If=20 the world's poor are to have fish tomorrow, we must meet = wetland=20 conservation goals and find ways to better manage the = fisheries they=20 support.

Multiple stakeholders need to take action at many levels = to=20 achieve both objectives, but adopting three key steps will = help.=20

First, we must recognise the role played by fisheries in=20 supporting the livelihoods of poor people and take this into = account=20 when deciding development policies and putting them into = practice.=20

Many of the threats to fisheries come from decisions = about land=20 and water use that fail to consider impacts on fish stocks = and those=20 who depend on them. The benefits of these fisheries for food = and=20 economic security often don't appear in a government's = economic=20 statistics and the impacts of their loss on national = economies are=20 missed.

When we build dams and draw water for agriculture, urban = and=20 industrial use, we need to consider explicitly the impact on = fisheries.

Second, we must strive for improved cross-sectoral = dialogue as=20 this is the surest way to include fisheries in development=20 decisions.

In Cambodia , for example, wetlands working groups in = three=20 provinces have succeeded in building awareness and a common = sense of=20 purpose across agencies.

Agriculture, fisheries, environment, tourism, rural = development,=20 public works and women's affairs have all taken part.

Third, we must adopt a rights-based approach. Building = resilient=20 small-scale fisheries that are properly valued and can = contribute=20 their full potential requires us to develop better measures = of=20 sustainability and resilience.

We should also work harder to better understand the full = costs=20 and benefits of development choices.

Central to this aim must be measures that assess whether = we have=20 met the rights of the poor. Meeting basic rights to food, = education,=20 health care, economic opportunity and political = participation is the=20 surest way to build resilience. Providing these needs will = help=20 communities break out of the vicious cycle where poverty = drives=20 environmental degradation which in turn drives poverty.

The imperatives to conserve wetlands and improve the = lives of=20 people are intimately bound. As the 2015 deadline for the = Millennium=20 Development Goals looms on the horizon, we must double = efforts to=20 fully recognise this connection. World Wetlands Day provides = an=20 opportunity to reflect on the steps needed to achieve these = noble=20 aims.

National and international agencies need to make = concerted=20 efforts to engage stakeholders at multiple levels, ranging = from=20 fishing communities to river basin authorities, to take on = these=20 challenges.

Only by addressing the issues in this way will we sustain = the=20 world's wetlands and fisheries and the people who depend on = them.=20

----

D. Stephen J. Hall is the Director-General of WorldFish = Centre, a=20 CGIAR Centre.

Dr Achim Steiner is the Executive Director of the UN = Environment=20 Programme (UNEP.)

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Mekong=20 NewsUganda: World Wetlands Day = - Will We=20 Have Fish Tomorrow?

Mekong=20 News
Uganda: World Wetlands Day = - Will We=20 Have Fish Tomorrow?