Chapter 4: Fisheries Law and Coastal Communities: Rights, Rules, and Realities

We continue our exploration of Cambodia’s oceans, rivers, and the communities that rely on these vital resources.

In Chapter 3, we examined the "house of law." We learned that the Constitution forms the foundation, while National Laws, Sub-decrees, and local rules construct the walls and roof. This structure illustrates the complexity of the legal system.

In Chapter 4, we will focus on a specific area within this legal framework: fisheries governance.

For fishers, this chapter is especially relevant to daily life. We will examine the rules governing fishing in Cambodia, including lawful and unlawful practices, prohibited gear, and licensing requirements.

We will also explore how the government and local communities collaborate to protect fisheries resources, a process referred to as "Community Fisheries" or "co-management."

Finally, we will examine fisheries governance from the perspective of local communities. This includes analyzing the challenges that emerge when formal legal rules intersect with the daily realities and struggles of fishers. We will consider why the law may be perceived differently by those working on the water compared to those in government offices.

Our aim is to present these rules in clear, accessible language so that all readers can understand their rights, regardless of legal background.

Let us begin our examination.

Part 1: An Overview of Fisheries Regulation

To manage all the fish, crabs, shrimp, and aquatic plants in the country, Cambodia relies heavily on one major document: the 2006 Law on Fisheries (which was updated and amended in 2017).
This law serves as the primary regulatory framework for all fishing activities, encompassing the deep ocean, shallow rivers, and lakes. Its main objective is to ensure responsible fishing practices, thereby preserving fish populations for future generations.

The Three Scales of Fishing

A key provision of the 2006 Law on Fisheries is the division of fishing into three categories, or "scales," based on boat size and gear type:

1. Small-Scale Fishing (Family or Subsistence Fishing): This traditional method involves small boats, often without engines or with minimal power, and gear such as cast nets, single hook-and-lines, or bamboo traps. The primary purpose is to provide food for the family, with occasional surplus sold at local markets for basic necessities.
2. Middle-Scale Fishing: This category utilizes larger boats and nets, such as long gillnets or substantial fish traps, and is conducted primarily for commercial profit.
3. Large-Scale (Industrial) Fishing: This sector involves large vessels equipped with powerful engines (over 50 horsepower) and extensive nets, such as deep-sea trawlers. These boats operate for extended periods and harvest significant quantities of fish for sale to major companies or for export.

The Great Reform: Giving the Water Back to the People

To understand current fishing regulations, it is essential to consider historical developments.
For many decades, prime fishing areas in Cambodia, particularly in the inland Tonle Sap lake, were divided into private "fishing lots" leased by the government to wealthy and influential individuals. Poor, small-scale fishers were prohibited from accessing these areas. Crossing boundaries could result in violent enforcement, including threats to personal safety and property. Consequently, marginalized fishers were confined to overcrowded, limited zones.

Due to the inequity and conflict generated by this system, the Prime Minister of Cambodia initiated a significant reform. In 2001, and fully implemented in 2012, the government abolished private fishing lots.

The government reclaimed millions of hectares of fishing waters from private interests and restored them to public use. Legislation now grants local communities the right to organize and manage these resources collectively. This reform represented a significant advancement for human rights and local fishers. However, it also introduced new challenges, including increased competition from external fishers.

Part 2: Licensing, Gear Rules, and Seasons

Although these waters are public, the law imposes strict limitations on when, where, and how fishing activities may occur.

1. Do You Need a License to Fish?

This requirement depends entirely on the scale of fishing activity.

• Small-Scale Fishers: The law is designed to protect the poor. If you are a Cambodian citizen engaged in small-scale, family fishing, you do not need a fishing license and do not have to pay fishing taxes. The law says you can do family fishing at almost any time and in almost any open-access area.

• Middle and Large-Scale Fishers: If you are running a bigger fishing operation to make a profit, you must get an official license from the Fisheries Administration (FiA) and you must pay taxes to the government. Your license will tell you exactly where you can fish and what gear you can use.

• Foreign Boats: Foreign fishing vessels are prohibited from entering Cambodian waters without a formal agreement and government-issued license.

2. The Rules of the Gear: What is Illegal?

Certain fishing tools are considered highly destructive, as they capture juvenile fish, damage aquatic vegetation, and degrade the environment. The 2006 Law on Fisheries strictly prohibits these methods.

If you use any of the following, you are breaking the law and committing a serious crime:

• Electrocution (Electric Fishing): This method involves using car batteries and wires to transmit electric shocks into the water, resulting in the death or stunning of all nearby aquatic organisms, including adult and juvenile fish, amphibians, and plants.

• Explosives (Dynamite): The use of explosives in fishing kills fish and causes them to surface, but also destroys fragile coral reefs. Reefs that have developed over centuries can be obliterated instantly.

• Poisons and Chemicals: Introducing toxic substances into the water to kill fish contaminates the aquatic environment, posing risks to both humans and wildlife.

• Mosquito Nets: The use of mosquito netting for fishing is prohibited because the fine mesh captures large quantities of juvenile fish (fry) before they have an opportunity to mature and reproduce.

• Small Mesh Nets: In freshwater environments, nets with a mesh size smaller than 1.5 centimeters are prohibited.

• Bottom Trawling and Push Nets in Shallow Water: Bottom trawlers drag heavy, chain-weighted nets across the ocean floor, damaging seagrass meadows and coral reefs. The law prohibits these vessels from operating in shallow, inshore waters (less than 20 meters deep), which serve as critical habitats for juvenile fish.

• Pair Trawling with Lights: This method involves two boats dragging a large net between them while using bright lights at night to attract fish.

3. Closed Seasons (Letting the Fish Breed)

Just as farmers have seasons for planting and harvesting, so do fishers.
During specific periods, fish reproduce and lay eggs. To prevent depletion of future stocks, the law establishes a "Closed Season" during which fishing is restricted.

In the inland waters (such as the Tonle Sap Lake and rivers), commercial and small-scale fishing is completely banned from June to September or October, depending on the exact location. During these rainy months, the water levels rise, and the fish swim into the flooded forests to breed.

However, recognizing the subsistence needs of low-income families, small-scale family fishing remains permitted during the closed season.

Part 3: Protecting the Home of the Fish – Conservation Measures

Fish populations depend on healthy habitats. Therefore, the law incorporates robust conservation measures to protect these environments.

Fish Sanctuaries and Marine Protected Areas

The government has created specific zones called Fish Sanctuaries and Marine Protected Areas (MPAs).

These areas function as reserves for fish populations. All fishing activities, boat traffic, and construction are strictly prohibited within these zones. By leaving these habitats undisturbed, fish can mature and reproduce. As populations increase, fish migrate from the sanctuary into open waters where legal fishing is permitted.

For example, Cambodia established its first big Marine National Park around the Koh Rong islands in the ocean to protect the coral reefs and sea turtles, whilst allowing local communities to safely manage the surrounding waters.

Protecting the Forests of the Water

The law strictly prohibits the removal of mangrove forests along the coast and flooded forests surrounding lakes. These ecosystems serve as nurseries for marine species, providing shelter for juvenile shrimp and crabs. Activities such as burning, harvesting for firewood, or clearing for aquaculture or salt production are forbidden.

Fighting Back: Anti-Trawling Concrete Blocks

In some cases, legal measures alone are insufficient, necessitating physical barriers. For example, in Kep province, illegal bottom trawlers entered shallow seagrass beds at night, causing extensive damage.

To address this issue, local communities and conservation organizations, such as Marine Conservation Cambodia, collaborated with the government to deploy large concrete blocks known as Fisheries Productivity Structures (FPS) into the ocean. These structures serve as underwater barriers; when illegal trawlers attempt to operate in protected areas, their nets become entangled and are rendered unusable. This intervention deters illegal fishing and allows seagrass and coral habitats to recover.

Part 4: Community Fisheries (CFi) as Co-Management Tools

As discussed in Chapter 2, the government lacks the resources to monitor all aquatic environments independently. Consequently, the law established a system known as co-management.

Co-management refers to collaborative management, representing a partnership between government authorities and local communities.

To facilitate this approach, the government enacted the 2007 Sub-decree on Community Fisheries Management. This regulation empowers citizens to organize and establish Community Fisheries (CFis).

How Does a CFi Work?

If a village depends on fishing, the people can vote to create a CFi. They elect a committee of local leaders. They sit down together and draw a map of their local fishing waters. Then, they write their own set of local rules (called By-laws and Internal Rules). Finally, they sign a formal agreement with the government (the Fisheries Administration) that officially recognizes their area. Today, there are over 500 CFIs in Cambodia.

The Rights of the Community

By forming a CFi, the local fishers gain very important legal rights. According to the law, the CFi has the right to:

• Manage and protect their designated water area.

• Set up their own local patrols to monitor illegal fishing.

• Ban destructive gears in their area.

• Protect their local mangrove trees and set up their own small fish sanctuaries.

The Limitations of the Community (What They Cannot Do)

However, the government has imposed strict limitations on CFIs' authority, which often leads to significant frustration within local communities.

• No Power to Arrest: This is the biggest problem. The law says a CFi patrol can stop an illegal fisher, but they are not officially allowed to arrest the person or issue a fine directly. Community members must detain the suspect and immediately call the official Fisheries Administration officers or the police to report the crime.

• Cannot Sell the Water: A CFi cannot sell, rent, or give away its fishing area to a private businessman. The water still belongs to the State.

• Cannot Do Community Commercial Fishing: The law allows individual families in the CFi to sell their daily catch. However, the law generally does not allow the CFi committee to act like a business and engage in large-scale commercial fishing to make money for the entire group. This is a huge problem. Because they cannot make money as a group, the CFi often has no money to buy gasoline for their patrol boats or pay for flashlights. They are responsible for protecting the water, but have no funding to do so.

Part 5: Where Formal Law Meets Customary Practice

Prior to the enactment of the 2006 Law on Fisheries, local villages maintained their own customary practices and traditional rules.
For hundreds of years, village elders knew exactly which areas of the lake belonged to which village. They knew when to stop fishing so the fish could breed. These rules were not written down; they were simply understood and respected by the people who lived there.
The formalization of the CFi system sought to incorporate these longstanding traditions into official government regulations.

The Problem of the "Outsider"

The intersection of formal law and customary practice often results in significant complexity and conflict.
In traditional customary practice, a village strongly protected its own waters and kept strangers out. However, the formal Sub-decree on Community Fisheries says that non-members (outsiders) are legally allowed to enter a CFi area and fish there.

Although formal law requires outsiders to comply with local CFi rules, this is seldom enforced in practice.

Imagine a local CFi decides to stop using big nets so baby crabs can grow. They make a sacrifice and lose money today to protect tomorrow. But then, fishers from another province (who are not part of the CFi) drive their boats into the area. Because these outsiders did not help write the local rules and do not live in the village, they do not care about the local conservation efforts. They use the big nets, catch all the crabs, and leave.

This situation generates significant frustration among local fishers, who perceive themselves as bearing the burden of environmental protection while outsiders benefit. The lack of enforceable boundaries and legal provisions permitting outsider access contribute to a sense of powerlessness within the community.

Part 6: The Community Lens – How Fishers Experience Law in Daily Life

To fully understand fisheries governance, it is necessary to consider the lived experiences of fishers. Examining these issues through the Community Lens reveals how regulatory frameworks impact daily life.

Small-scale fishers in Cambodia typically focus on survival, debt, and insecurity rather than specific legal articles or sub-decrees.

The Trap of Debt and the Middleperson

Fishing requires significant investment in equipment such as boats, engines, fuel, and nets. Most small-scale fishers lack financial resources and must borrow from local intermediaries, often fish buyers who also serve as moneylenders.

In exchange for loans, fishers are often required to sell their catch to the middleperson at reduced prices, limiting their ability to negotiate fair market value. If catches are low, debt accumulates, exacerbating financial hardship.

The Tragedy of Stolen and Destroyed Gear

For example, a fisher may set out expensive crab traps or gillnets at night, only to have them destroyed by illegal industrial trawlers operating in shallow waters. The heavy nets of these trawlers can obliterate the gear of small-scale fishers.

Or, thieves sneak into the area and simply steal the fisher's nets.
As a result, fishers may lose essential equipment while remaining indebted to intermediaries, leaving them without means to sustain their livelihoods. Such losses can be devastating for low-income families.

Why People Break the Law to Survive

This cycle of debt and equipment loss helps explain why formal legal frameworks often fail to address the realities faced by fishers.

Although fishers are aware that using mosquito nets is illegal and environmentally harmful, the destruction of legal gear by illegal trawlers and acute economic hardship may compel them to resort to prohibited methods out of necessity.

Poverty can drive individuals to adopt unsustainable fishing practices, a phenomenon known as "Malthusian overfishing," where immediate survival needs override long-term environmental considerations.

The Frustration with Enforcement

Consequently, many fishers perceive the law as fundamentally unjust.

When participating in Community Fishery patrols, fishers often use their own funds to cover operational expenses. If they encounter illegal trawlers damaging coral reefs, the law requires them to contact official authorities rather than intervene directly.

Frequently, local police or Fisheries Administration officers lack adequate resources, such as fast boats or fuel, and may not respond promptly. In some cases, corruption enables illegal trawlers to evade enforcement.

For small-scale fishers, the law appears ineffective, as it assigns responsibility for resource protection to local communities without granting them sufficient authority to address violations by more powerful actors.

Conclusion: Bridging the Gap Between Paper and Water

In this chapter, we have examined Fisheries Governance in Cambodia in depth.
We saw that the 2006 Law on Fisheries is a powerful tool on paper. It rightly bans destructive gear such as dynamite, electric shocks, and large trawlers in shallow waters. It creates closed seasons to let the fish breed.

We learned about the great reform that canceled the private fishing lots and created Community Fisheries (CFis). This co-management system was designed to empower local villagers to protect their own backyards.

But looking through the Community Lens, we saw the painful reality on the water. We saw that complex rules about access boundaries mean that outsiders constantly invade local waters. We saw that because CFIs lack the legal power to make arrests or run community businesses, they are left underfunded and frustrated. And we saw that deep poverty, debt, and the theft of fishing gear force many desperate families to break the very laws designed to protect them.

Although legal frameworks and rights are established, the law will remain ineffective unless local communities receive genuine authority, financial resources, and effective enforcement support to address illegal commercial fishing.

In Chapter 5, we will shift our focus from the fish to the environment itself. We will explore the laws of Environmental Protection and Marine Conservation, honestly examining the difficult trade-offs between building large coastal developments and protecting the fragile mangroves and coral reefs.

We invite you to continue with us as we further explore the practical implications of legal frameworks.

Disclaimer: This blog series is designed purely as a community learning journey for educational and awareness purposes. It is intended to build general legal literacy regarding marine governance and architecture. It does not constitute formal legal advice, nor should it be used as a substitute for professional legal counsel in any formal disputes or administrative processes. 
 
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