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FISHING
CONFLICT
IN
BATTAMBANG
TABLE
OF CONTENTS
-
Introduction
-
Current
Fishing Situation in Battambang
2.1
Population
2.2 Fishing Communes
2.3 Population of Fishing Communes
2.4 Land Holding of Fishing Households
-
Destruction
of Natural Resources
-
Boundaries
of the Fishing Lots
-
Specific
Cases of Conflict between Fishing Lots and Local People in Battambang
-
Illegal
activities of Fishing Lot Owners
-
Human
Rights Violations in the Fishing Lot Conflict
-
Environmental
Destruction of the Fishing Lot Owners
1.
Pumping of lakes and ponds
2. Depleted fish species
-
Impact
on Local People
-
Conflict
Resolution
-
The
Weakness of the Fishery Law
-
Conclusion
FISHING CONFLICT IN BATTAMBANG
In
Battambang, there is a widespread and alarming conflict between villagers and
fishing lot owners. The fishing lot owners have attempted to prevent local
villagers from fishing in the fishing lot areas and villagers have resisted
this attempt. This year, the conflict intensified as several people were
arrested and a villager was shot and wounded.
Fishing
lot owners are responsible for many illegal fishing activities. Local people
are not happy with the current fishing lot system as the fishing lots put
pressure on their sources of livelihood. The fishery law seems to give less
consideration to local people. Legal loopholes and bad enforcement give the
rich and powerful many advantages.
This
report gives background information about the current fishing situation in
Battambang, the illegal fishing activities by the lot owners, the human rights
violations, the weakness of the fishery law and the details of recent conflicts
between villagers and fishing lot owners. These conflicts have not been
resolved despite several promises by government officials to look into the
matter.
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Battambang
province, which covers an area of 10,433 km2, is located in the
northwestern part of Cambodia, bordering Thailand in the west, Bantey Meanchey
in the north, Pursat in the south and southeast and Siem Reap and the Tonle Sap
Lake in the east. The province consists of 12 districts, 89 communes and 611
villages.
The
population census in 1998 shows that Battambang is a densely populated province
with total population of 793,129 people. The population density is 68 per km2,
which is slightly higher than the national density of 64. The population of
this province constitutes 6.9% of Cambodian population. The percentage of
female population accounts for 51%.
Table 2.1 Population of Battambang in 1962 and 1998
|
Year
|
Population
|
Density
(pop. per sq. km)
|
|
1962
|
552,
440
|
28.8
|
|
1998
|
793,
129 (boundaries reduced)
|
68.0
(after boundary changes)
|
Source:
Population census 1962 and 1998.
Since
the population census in 1962, the population density has more than doubled.
This increase has had an impact on the resource base that people need for their
survival.
The
results of the population census in 1998 show that, in Battambang, about 71% of
the population are involved in the agricultural sector. The rest, 24.9% and 4.1%,
are involved in the service and industrial sectors respectively. Rice
cultivation is a symbol of Battambang in both quality and quantity. The average
rice yield at present is around 1.25 tons per hectare. Apart from rice, people
supplement their incomes and livelihoods by fishing and cutting forest.
Almost
half of the districts in Battambang consist of communes in which fishing is a
significant activity (See table Table 2.2 below).
Table 2.2 The Fishing Communes by Districts
|
District
|
Population
|
No. of fishing communes
|
No. of non-fishing
communes
|
Total
|
|
Ek
Phnom
|
62 949
|
5
|
2
|
7
|
|
Moung
Roussey
|
102 373
|
6
|
5
|
11
|
|
Sanke
|
99 672
|
6
|
4
|
10
|
|
Battambang
|
113 281
|
4
|
6
|
10
|
|
Svay
Pao
|
130 251
|
3
|
7
|
10
|
|
Banan
|
71 479
|
1
|
7
|
8
|
|
Total
|
580 005
|
25
|
31
|
56
|
Source:
Ahmed M. et al, 1998.
In
1994, the population of fishing communes constituted 36.4% of the total
population. By 1998, the population of fishing communes had increased to 42.7%
while the natural resource base had declined significantly. The average annual
increase of the population of fishing communes over four years is estimated at
1.57%. (See Table 2.3 on the next
page).
Fishing is part of the traditional food collection for
many families. Since most households have free access to common property
resources such as lakes and rivers, it is cheaper to catch fish than buy it
from the market. This was given as the main reason for choosing to fish as a
preferred activity of the household.
Table
2.3 below shows a sharp increase in the population of most fishing communes
between 1994 to 1998, with the greatest increases in Mong Reusey and Banon
districts.
Table 2.3 Population Increase in Fishing Communes in
Battambang, by District
|
Name of District
|
Population of Fishing Communes
|
|
|
in 1994
|
in 1998
|
% Increase
|
|
Ek
Phnom
|
44 059
|
47 205
|
7%
|
|
Battambang
|
49 027
|
48 285
|
-2%
|
|
Sangke
|
54 272
|
58 488
|
8%
|
|
Mong
Reusey
|
67 541
|
136 804
|
103%
|
|
Svay
Pau
|
29 683
|
30 224
|
2%
|
|
Banon
|
10 358
|
17 847
|
72%
|
|
Total
|
254 940
|
338 853
|
33%
|
Land
is an important asset of the rural household. It provides opportunities for
diverse agricultural activities and to a large extent determines economic
position.
Fishing households on the average own less land than non-fishing
households and many do not have any agricultural land at all. The Household
Survey of Socio-economic Assessment of Freshwater Capture Fisheries of Cambodia
reveals that in Battambang the estimated average land holding of the fishing
household is about 1.45 ha per household, whereas for the non-fishing household
it is around 2.02 ha per household.
The
report shows that among 286 surveyed fishing households in Battambang's fishing
communes, 41% of them are landless, 4.2% own land less than 0.5 ha, and 19.6%
own land between 0.5 to 1 ha. The rest, 35%, have more than 1 ha. By
comparison, among the 336 non-fishing
households surveyed, only 10% are landless.
Table 2.4 Distribution of Agricultural land by size
1995-96
|
Household
|
Landless
|
0< land <0.5 ha
|
0.5< land <1 ha
|
land >1 ha
|
Total
|
|
No.
of Family
|
%
|
No.
of HH
|
%
|
No.
of HH
|
%
|
No.
of HH
|
%
|
No.
of HH
|
Total
|
|
Fishing
Household
|
118
|
41.3
|
12
|
4.2
|
56
|
19.6
|
100
|
35
|
286
|
100
|
|
Non-fishing
Household
|
35
|
10.4
|
51
|
15.2
|
81
|
24.1
|
169
|
50.3
|
336
|
100
|
Source:
Ahmed M. et al, 1998.
Besides
cultivating agricultural land, people in rural areas still rely on natural resources
that are held as common property for a wide range of uses. These resources,
which are economically important in rural village life,
include inundated forests, rivers, flooded ricefields and banks/beds of
rivers/lakes. The dependence of fishing households that have little
agricultural land on fishery resources for their day- to-day livelihoods and
food security is very high.
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Clearly,
households depend on fishery and other resources. There is a declining trend in
the availability of the products and benefits derived from common property
resources. If these resources become unavailable in the future, the livelihood
opportunities of the people will be affected, especially for the subsistence
households whose alternatives are limited.
Traditionally,
small-scale or artisanal fishers have provided fish for local consumption. But
as fish become scarce and their value increases, it enters the global market
and becomes unaffordable for common people. In the process, people are
displaced and the private fishing companies take over completely.
The fish stock in Cambodia is declining. In the
Mekong River system as a whole, there are 1200 known fish species. Out of these, 500 species are reported
to have resided in the freshwater bodies of Cambodia. However, a recent study
found only 100 species now present around the Tonle Sap and adjacent rivers.
Another source indicates that around 300 of the 500 fish species in the
Great Lake Tonle Sap have diappeared.
Encroachment
and destructive practices are having an impact on the existing 700 000 ha of
flooded forest in Cambodia. The flooded areas are becoming smaller and the
flooding times are becoming shorter, which may cause a reduction in fish
species that spawn and live in the flooded forests, especially highly migratory
ones. There was a rapid reduction of the flooded forest over the 1980s and
1990s. About 50% of the flooded forest around Tonle Sap has been destroyed,
including 90% of the flooded forests in Chnok Tru of Kompong Chhnang, which
have been exploited intensively.
Like
other provinces, Battambang is facing similar threat. The natural resources
have been destroyed in an unsustainable way. The Socio-Economic Assessment of
Freshwater Capture Fisheries in Cambodia states that in Battambang, 99.8% of
respondents reported that the availability of products from inundated forest
has decreased, 99.1% reported a decrease in products from big rivers and lakes,
and 98.7% reported a decrease in products from flooded ricefields. (See Table 2.5 below).
Table 2.5 Percentage of Households Reporting Trend of
Availability of Products and Benefits from Common Resources in Battambang
|
Common Resource
|
Inundated forest (%)
|
Big River/lakes (%)
|
Flooded Ricefield (%)
|
|
Increasing
|
0.0
|
0.2
|
0.0
|
|
Decreasing
|
99.8
|
99.1
|
98.7
|
|
Constant
|
0.2
|
0.7
|
1.3
|
|
Number
of HH
|
465
|
447
|
396
|
Source:
Ahmed M. et al, 1998.
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Towards the end of the 19th century, the inland wetland fish catch
was recognized as an important resource for the Cambodian diet and economy, as
stated by Henry Kohout who traveled to Cambodia from 1857 to 1863. The
industrialization of the inland capture fisheries for generating state revenue
began around 1864, based on the advice of the French protectorate authority.
The current fishing lot system was established in 1929.
In Battambang, there are 12 fishing lots. The fishing lot boundaries were
developed mainly in colonial times and are still maintained. According to maps
of the fishing lots (No. 6, 7 and 8), there are many villages located in the
fishing lot boundaries. Since 1989, the population growth has remained at
approximately 2.5% annually, while the fish yield remains below the yield that
existed before 1970. Thus increasing numbers of local people, who typically
have a small land holding with a low yield of rice cultivation, are facing
difficulties as the entire fishing area of their villages are under the fishing
lots.
Since the colonial time, the government has maintained the same boundary.
Currently, the fishing lot boundaries are not clearly defined on the
ground. The fishing lot owners collude
with fishery officials, policemen, military and district officials in determining
the lot boundary.
The Royal Government has failed to be proactive in coping with a rapid
increase of population and allocating resources to the newborn population. As a
signatory to the UN Convention on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, the
government should endeavor to ensure basic human rights, including the right to
food security, the right to shelter and the right to freedom of its citizens.
The government should also have a mechanism to protect the livelihoods of its
people from exploitation by outsiders. The local people should not be subject
to the exploitation of any investor, and development should not make local
people vulnerable. However, the fishing lot owners tend to have a privilege
over the fishing ground and, according to villagers, always claim that where
there is water, there is a fishing lot boundary. People are prevented from
fishing in these elastic fishing lot areas.
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1.
Background to the conflict
The
conflict between fishing lots and local people has been happening everywhere in
Battambang where the fishing lots exist. In 1999, the fishing conflict
intensified in Battambang, as villagers were prevented from fishing in areas of
the fishing lot where people have fished for a subsistence living for
generations. Some lakes within the fishing lots, where people claimed to have
fished since time immemorial, have been taken away by the fishing lot owners
and left thousands of people with no fishing ground. The local people have
considered this as an unfair treatment, where the fishing lot owners, who are
already rich, receive more privileges while the local people, who are poor,
lose even their only fishing ground. In fact, although these lakes and water
bodies are located within the fishing lot areas, the law does allow people to
fish in certain areas of the fishing lot, while reserving other areas for the
use of the fishing lot owners.
Fishing
lots no. 7 and 8 are among the fishing lots that are auctioned to private
owners. The biggest conflicts have occurred around fishing lots no. 7 and 8,
which are located in Ek Phnom district, Battambang province. The owner of the
fishing lot No.8, Mrs. Rourm Chanta, won the auction on August 12, 1999 at the
cost of 203 million Riel, and has a full right to exploit fishery resources in
the fishing lot no.8 for two years effective from the auction date. Moun Chamroeun and Theng Sary are among the four sub-leasees
that bought a share from Rourm Chanta and have had conflict with local people
over their fishing rights. As
for the fishing lot no.7, the owner, Tuy Map, won in the auction on August 2,
1997 at a total cost of nine million Riel, and has the right to fish in the
fishing lot for two years effective from that date. Tuy Map sold the fishing rights to
two sub-leasees, Mr. Sao and Mr. Loch.
The
owner of the fishing lot no.8 accepted an increase in auction price from 73
million to 203 million Riel, on the understanding that the government had
offered him all lakes in the fishing lot.
In
fishing lot no.8, there are 58 lakes. The report of the commune chief of Prek
Norin to a provincial investigation indicates that among 58 lakes in lot no.8,
31 lakes have traditionally been used by the fishing lot owner and the rest, 27
lakes, by the local people. The detailed names of these lakes can been seen in
the attached annexe.
602
people from 4 villages in Prek Norin commune have sent a written complaint to
the Prime Minister about the violation of their fishing rights by the owner of
fishing lot No.8, especially the two sub-leasees Moun Chanroeun and Theng Sary.
623 families from 3 villages in Peam Ek commune have sent a similar complaint
to the Battambang Provincial Governor.
Table 6.1 The number of villages, people and families
filing a complaint against Fishing Lot No. 8
|
Village
|
Commune
|
No. of people and
families filing a complaint against Fishing Lot No. 8
|
|
Ansong
Sork
|
Prek
Norin
|
196 People
|
|
Rohalsong
|
Prek
Norin
|
196 People
|
|
Prek
Norin
|
Prek
Norin
|
70 People
|
|
Prek
Trop
|
Prek
Norin
|
140 People
|
|
Ta
Korm
|
Peam
Ek
|
168 Families
|
|
Kokdong
|
Peam
Ek
|
81 Families
|
|
Prek
Chdor
|
Peam
Ek
|
374 Families
|
Source:
Copy of the People's Complaint
Even
though fishing lot owners have tried to stop local people from fishing within
the fishing lot boundaries, local people in Peam Ek and Prek Norin communes
keep fishing in Boeung Khmao and Boeung Chikcheap as they know that these two
lakes are not listed in the burden book.
Seeing
that the people ignored the order and still continued to fish, in November 29,
1999, Ek Phnom district authorities released a final order to inform the
villagers who fished in the fishing lots No. 8 and 7 to remove their fishing equipment
by December 02, 1999. If not, the people’s fishing equipment would be
confiscated and taken to the provincial fishery department. At the end of the deadline, two
district policemen equipped with guns were sent to guard the Boeung Khmao Lake,
on the premise that villagers were using illegal fishing equipment. Even with
the presence of the police, the villagers continued to fish in the lake as they
have always done.
Following
the ineffective measures taken by the district authority, military officials
called a meeting at the district center on December 20, 1999 with people from
Preak Chdor village in order to resolve the conflict over the Boeung Khmao
lake. The meeting did not produce any result as villagers kept saying that this
lake belongs to the people and is excluded from the list in the burden book.
However, the fishing lot sub-leasee maintained that it is in fishing lot
boundary and should belong to the fishing lot owner. On December 21, 1999,
policemen were sent to crack down on villagers who fished in Boeung Khmao lake
and the confrontation became worse.
On
January 9, 2000, six policemen were again sent to Boeung Khmao. One villager from Preak Chdor village was
shot and wounded in the leg by the policemen
and other villagers were threatened with death if they tried to fish in the
disputed lakes again. The responsible police have not been apprehended, nor has
the case been seriously investigated.
At
Boeung Chikcheap lake, a similar problem occurred in January 2000. Some 10
villagers were arrested for fishing in the lake belonging to the fishing lot
and jailed for two nights at the
provincial prison with very little food and water. Powerful officials tried to
threaten them to give up fishing activities in the lake.
In general,
local people lack both the right and the mechanism for state protection in
terms of security and livelihood as citizens of a lawful state. The local
people are subjected to violations from the rich and powerful, and are
extremely vulnerable. The rich and the powerful tend to have strong support,
while the local villagers lack support.
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Deploying
soldiers at the lakes without proper written permission, preventing people’s
access to the fishing lakes not included in the list in the burden book,
threatening civilians and wounding them are violations of the rights of the
people, and contrary to the Constitution.
In
a Public Forum on the Fishing Lot Conflict in Battambang on February 25, 2000,
villagers made a number of allegations about the activities of fishing lot
owners, as described below. Many of
these allegations are backed up by NGOs who work in the areas concerned.
In
1999, the fishing lot owners of lot no. 8 wanted to put into their control all
lakes and bodies of water in the fishing lot boundary but not in the standard
burden book. For instance, Boeung Khmao and Boeung Chikcheap are not in the
list of an annex of the burdened books of lot no. 8. The standard burden book
does not say the fishing lot owners can fish in all areas in the fishing lot
boundary. Article 6 in the standard burden book states that the fishing
activities of the fishing lot owners should be within the fishing lot boundary
and outside the fishing ground reserved for local people. Article 11 in the
standard burden book also states that people who reside in the fishing lot
territory are allowed to fish in an area that is reserved for them. Therefore,
local people who fish in particular lakes within the fishing lot are not violating
the fishing lot owners' rights. In addition, Article 11 of the Fishery Law
states that small scale family fishing for subsistence can be implemented at
all the times in the protected fishing domain in the fishing lots during the
closed season. On the contrary, any
effort to prevent local people from fishing in these lakes for subsistence
livelihood is violating these articles