SBR- Content.pmd - INBO

State of the Basin Report - 2003The processing and selling ofthese crafts provides jobs andsupplementary income for ruralwomen and children in the dryseason. With the growth of tourism,making crafts from wetland productsis becoming an increasinglyimportant source of income,especially in Cambodia and VietNam. Nearly 50 percent of familiesin some villages near wetlandsengage in mat weaving, producingabout 30-100 mats per family perseason. The farm gate price for a 1x 2 m mat made from sedge is $1-3,Women earn important cash income from makinghousehold products and craftswith round sedge products earning the higher price. Remote villages residing close tolakes depend on these crafts to supplement their earnings from fishing, and they areespecially important in supplementing income for villages with limited land holdings.5. ConclusionThe Mekong River and its many sub-basins constitute an extremely diverse and complex ecosystem,which is highly dynamic in time and space. This combination has created one of the most diverse fishcommunities in any river system in the world. The ecology of the many fish species is intimatelylinked to the hydrology of the system. Fish are still abundant and the stocks are healthy, due to arelatively unpolluted and intact environment with no dams on the mainstream outside China. TheLower Mekong River Basin, with 1.5 million tonnes of fish landed annually, still sustains one of thelargest freshwater capture fisheries in the world, providing food and employment for many of the 55million people living in the basin.A rapidly growing population means more mouths to feed. Increasing fishing pressure has contributedto the decline of the large and slow-growing species. They are gradually being replaced in thefishery by small, fast-growing opportunists that mature sexually after one year. Looking across allfisheries, it appears the total catch is probably close to being fully exploited so further expansion offishing will become increasingly problematic.In spite of an impressive expansion in aquaculture over the last decade, it is not a substitute forcapture fisheries. It does, however, have an important role in providing food and income for ruraldwellers, particularly those remote from the rivers and their fisheries. Aquaculture of exotic speciesposes some threats to natural stocks of fishes, if the exotic species happen to establish reproducingpopulations in the natural environment. Some aquaculture systems are based on the collection of fryfrom capture fisheries, as well as the supply of fish as food for the cultured fish. Unlimited frycollection and the use of fish as a feed source in aquaculture are not in the best interests of thefisheries or the people dependent on them.While at the macro level, development of the Mekong’s water and related resources could benefitnational economies and the economy of the region, if not well planned and carefully managed, itcould also significantly impact the wetlands upon which rural people heavily depend, both for foodsecurity and for their livelihoods.132