[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
DAM-L LS: Reduced Fish Catch in Tonle Sap (fwd)
----- Forwarded message from owner-irn-mekong@netvista.net -----
Return-path: <owner-irn-mekong@netvista.net>
Received: from DaVinci.NetVista.net (mjdomo@mail.netvista.net [206.170.46.10])
by lox.sandelman.ottawa.on.ca (8.8.7/8.8.8) with ESMTP id VAA11801
for <dianne@sandelman.ottawa.on.ca>; Tue, 29 May 2001 21:31:56 -0400 (EDT)
From: owner-irn-mekong@netvista.net
Received: [by DaVinci.NetVista.net (8.10.0/8.8.8) id f4U1RKp13369
for irn-mekong-list; Tue, 29 May 2001 18:27:20 -0700 (PDT)
(envelope-from owner-irn-mekong@netvista.net)]
Date: Tue, 29 May 2001 18:27:20 -0700 (PDT)
Message-ID: <200105300127.f4U1RKp13369@DaVinci.NetVista.net>
Subject: LS: Reduced Fish Catch in Tonle Sap
Sender: owner-irn-mekong@netvista.net
Precedence: bulk
Cambodia' great lake the backbone of
country's agriculture
DAVID LONGSTREATH, Associated Press Writer
Saturday, May 26, 2001
Breaking News Sections
(05-26) 09:15 PDT SIEM REAP, Cambodia (AP) --
As the dawn washes the sky in red and gold,
fishermen returning with their nightly catch jockey
to beat their colleagues into the narrow streams
that feed the huge Tonle Sap Lake.
They are in a rush to get their iced-down fish
ashore and sold before the gentle sky turns
glowering and begins baking central Cambodia with
95-degree heat.
The Tonle Sap, Southeast Asia's largest freshwater
lake at 100 miles long by 221/2 miles wide, is
considered by many Khmers to be the backbone of
their struggling nation's agricultural system.
It not only provides Cambodians with more than
300 species of fish but also spreads fertile soil
over hundreds of square miles of farm fields during
the annual flood season.
For centuries an ancient Khmer culture flourished
on its shore. The magnificent temples of Angkor
Wat and the surrounding countryside provide
evidence of the lake's ability to feed not only the
work force that built the sandstone complexes but
the population that filled the cities as well.
The Tonle Sap is a wonder. When the monsoon rains
come, the waters from the Mekong River flow into
the Tonle Sap River. The Tonle Sap River then
reverses direction, flooding the lake and increasing
its size almost tenfold. The depth of the lake goes
from three feet to 33 feet, providing excellent
spawning grounds for fish.
But the ecological balance is changing. Cambodia,
one of the poorest nations in the world after the
devastation of 30 years of civil war, has gained a
degree of stability in recent years that has allowed
development.
Logging of Cambodia's forests has resulted in
increased sedimentation in the lake, leading
environmentalist to warn this will decrease lake
depths and decrease fish yields.
Planned but yet to be constructed hydropower
dams on the Mekong River in Laos and China could
alter the balance even more by reducing the flow of
water into the lake.
Retired fisherman Tong Duan has lived his entire 72
years on the lake, rarely setting foot on dry
ground. He witnessed the annual rains and the
ensuing floods that brought life and sustenance to
the Tonle Sap and the Cambodian people.
Partially blind now, he can only watch from the
porch deck of his daughters' house boat near the
island of Kompong Phluk as other fishermen take to
the lake. He's worried by what he sees.
"It's not the same," he laments. "They don't catch
as much as before."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe from this list, send a message to majordomo@netvista.net
with no subject and the following text in the body of the message
"unsubscribe irn-mekong".
----- End of forwarded message from owner-irn-mekong@netvista.net -----