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Tonle Sap: Fisheries Management Case Study

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Abstract

The Tonle Sap Lake in Cambodia is considered the “heart” of the Mekong River Basin, helping to pulse the flood waters in and out during the high and low flood seasons and saving large areas in the Mekong Region from flooding and drought. The inflow and outflow of the water between the Mekong River and the Tonle Sap Lake enriches catchment biodiversity and fisheries; the lake itself also an important location for biodiversity and fish. The Tonle Sap Great Lake is connected to the Mekong River through the 100 km long Tonle Sap River, close to 60% of its water originating from the Mekong with the rest coming from local tributaries and rainfall over the lake. The Great Lake covers an area of 250,000–300,000 ha in the dry season and 1.0–1.3 million ha in the wet season. The Tonle Sap Great Lake and floodplain is characterized by high fishery and agricultural productivity, with close to 300 fish species found in the Lake. The Tonle Sap fisheries account for about 60% of the national fish catch. Hydrological fluctuation and dispersed resources around the lake shape the ways in which people settle on the lake geographically, ecologically, and socially with a human population in the Tonle Sap Basin of more than four million.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. CGIAR, Penang, Malaysia

    Gareth Johnstone & Mak Sithirith

Authors
  1. Gareth Johnstone
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  2. Mak Sithirith
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Gareth Johnstone or Mak Sithirith .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Land, Water and Society, Charles Sturt University, Albury, NSW, Australia

    C. Max Finlayson

  2. International Water Security Network, University of the West of England, Bristol, UK

    Mark Everard

  3. UNESCO-IHE, Institute for Water Education, Delft, The Netherlands

    Kenneth Irvine

  4. RM Wetlands and Environment Ltd., Littleworth, Oxfordshire, UK

    Robert J. McInnes

  5. U.S. Geological Survey, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center, Lafayette, LA, USA

    Beth A. Middleton

  6. Aquatic Ecosystems Group, Department of Water Science and Engineering, UNESCO-IHE, Institute for Water Education, Delft, The Netherlands

    Anne A. van Dam

  7. Institute for Land, Water and Society, Charles Sturt University, Albury, NSW, Australia

    Nick C. Davidson

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Johnstone, G., Sithirith, M. (2018). Tonle Sap: Fisheries Management Case Study. In: Finlayson, C.M., et al. The Wetland Book. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9659-3_202

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