Fingerlings released into Nakai reservoir
(KPL) Local authorities in Khammouane Province pledged to take steps to provide more protection for the fish that thrive in Nakai Reservoir and so ensure sustainable exploitation of the fish in this reservoir.
Speaking during a fish-release ceremony, held to mark National Wildlife and Aquatic Animal Day on the Nakai Plateau, on July 1, Deputy Governor of Khammousne, Mr Somchay Phetsinuan, said that provincial and district agencies had been making efforts to get villagers to be aware of the importance of prudent management of the valuable aquatic resources.
A Reservoir Management Committee, made up of local fishermen, women and government officers, had been set up to draft regulations on sustainable use of the reservoir, such as fishing licences, fishing season and prohibited fishing zones.
The government had decreed that fishing rights in the reservoir were reserved for families that were resettled by the management of Nam Theun 2 Project or for those families who had fished in the Theun River before the reservoir was created.
The Reservoir Management Committee stipulated that fishing boats must be registered, daily catches recorded and taxes paid on sale of fish.. Commenting on the regulations, Mr Khamtanh said that as the regulations were already in place and so everyone had to work as a team to see to it that they were being enforced.
During this ceremony, Khammouane Province and NTPC representatives released 45,000 Pa Pak or Silver Barb (Barbodes gonionotus) fingerlings to boost the number of native fish in the reservoir. To coincide with this event, the villagers brought 450 kilograms of “ghost nets” to be destroyed.
These were nets that accidentally become entangled with the trees in the reservoir so that they trapped and killed the fish in the water. By removing them more fish would be able to thrive and grow to adulthood and it also reduced pollution.
NTPC offered Nakai villagers cash rewards for removal of the net. Also destroyed during this ceremony were illegal fishing gear, small-mesh nets, spear guns and diving masks.
The Director of Khammouane Province Agriculture and Forestry Office, Mr Phomma Phanthalangsy, emphasised the importance of managing fish stocks and protection of the biodiversity of Khammouane Province.
He added that the relevant authorities had conducted exercises to get the community to be conscious of the regulations that protected biodiversity, but there was the need to ensure continuity and it could only be sustained if the people who were in one way or another involved in it made the effort to do so.
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