SBR- Content.pmd - INBO

State of the Basin Report - 2003Table 1. Estimated freshwater fish and aquatic product consumption in the Lower Mekong Basin.CountryPopulation in LMB1999/2000Assessed consumptionin per capita per yearof all fisheriesproducts. Average(range), kgsAssessed totalconsumption offreshwater fish, fishproducts and aquaticanimals (tonnes)1999/2000Cambodia total 10,775,000 47 (10-89) 508,000Lao total 5,087,000 26 (17-36) 133,000N-E Thailand 22,439,000 35 (20-41) 795,000Viet Nam - Mekong delta 17,958,000 33 (15-60) 597,000TOTAL 56,259,000 36 2,033,000Source:Sjorslev (in press)Given this assumption, it follows that fish consumption is approximately equal to the amount offish caught plus that produced from fish farming. In 1999-2000, 260,000 tonnes of fish were producedby the aquaculture industry, 50 and 240,000 tonnes of fish were taken from reservoirs 51 in the LMB.Therefore, the total yield from the freshwater riverine and wetland capture fishery is at presentabout 1,533,000 tonnes per year.The validity of this estimate can be cross-checked using data from studies on fisheries yieldsfrom wetlands in the LMB. Estimates of mean fish yield range from about 205 kg per hectare peryear for the Great Lake area to 375 kg per hectare per year for the floodplain near Phnom Penh,though these means are based upon small survey areas. Based on a much larger survey area,Baran et al. (2001) estimate the annual yield of the Tonle Sap Lake and floodplain to be 230 kgper hectare. An average yield of 230 kg per hectare from the 9.69 million hectares of wetlands inthe basin 52 extrapolates to a total yield of 2.23 million tonnes per year. Therefore, the estimate of1.533 million tonnes (equivalent to 158 kg/ha of wetlands) of freshwater fish and aquatic productscaptured from the river and wetlands fishery in the LMB each year is considered realistic, andpossibly conservative.The Mekong fishery is probably the largest river fisheryin the world. 53 In 1999 the total world capture fisheries(marine and freshwater) catch was 92.3 million tonnes. 54Based on the figures presented here, the Lower MekongBasin freshwater fishery is about 2 percent of the totalworld capture fisheries yield.The value of the fishery in the LMB is very difficult toestimate, because the relative proportions of fish,processed fish products and other aquatic animals arenot well described, and the average prices of thesedifferent products in different regions are not known.Nevertheless, we can get an approximate idea of thevalue of the fishery if we apply fish prices to the totalyield of fish, fish products and other aquatic animals.We can use an average farm gate price of $1.05 per kgfor cultured fish 55 and an average first hand sale priceof $0.68 per kg for capture fish. 56 For the reservoirA river catfish, very important in thecapture fishery and in aquaculture108