December 27, 2022
Cambodia seeks world heritage status for Mekong dolphin area

Authorities seek to promote the conservation area on the Mekong River as a Natural World Heritage Site in a last-ditch effort to protect the remaining endangered freshwater dolphins in the country.

The mighty Mekong River is home to endangered Irrawaddy freshwater dolphins, considered as the living heritage of the country. But in the last seven days, three dolphins were found dead due to illegal fishing in the Mekong River.

Neth Pheaktra, spokesman of Ministry of Environment, said dolphins are dying because they are being trapped by fishing nets every year and so conservation efforts are needed to save them.

Pheaktra added that about 89 dolphins are left now on the biodiversity-rich Mekong River, and a working group led by the Ministry of Environment is preparing to submit a proposal for the conservation area to be included in the UNESCO Natural World Heritage List

He said that it is very sad to hear about repeated deaths of dolphins due to fishery crimes. He added 11 dolphins have died so far this year, while a total of 29 dolphins died in the last three years.

There are fewer than 250 freshwater Irrawaddy dolphins left in the three river basins where they are found. One among them is Mekong River in Cambodia.
https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501209119/ ... phin-area/

Good news!
Samdech Techo HE to create a permanent conservation area to protect dolphin life
Appeared 19 minutes ago
On Monday, January 2, 2023
By deth leng
Cambodia News: On January 2, 2023, Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo HE urged Kratie and Stung Treng provincial authorities to cooperate with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in the establishment of a permanent conservation area in the Mekong river, which will serve as a safe haven for the endangered Mekong dolphins.


The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) recently declared a series of deaths on the Mekong River dolphins in Cambodia, with the number rising to 11 in 2022. Mr. Seng Teak, Director of WWF-Cambodia, said: “The recent increase in illegal fishing activities in the dolphin habitats will cause the Mekong dolphins to become extinct if no immediate action is taken to stop them." He called upon the authorities to strictly enforce the laws.

Dolphins die due to a number of reasons, many of them caused by man, such as being caught in fishing nets and being electrocuted by illegal fishing practices. Samdech Techo HE encouraged the local people to get involved in the dolphin conservation, because they are part of Cambodia's natural heritage. As such, all fishing in the dolphin conservation areas must be firmly sanctioned by the authorities.
- KPT
CEO News notes: The main Mekong dolphin habitat in Cambodia is situated at Kampi in Kratie province; the geographical area inhabited by the dolphins is not extensive, but it includes deep pools where they can mate, calve, and find food in the dry season. These pools also attract fish, and therefore fishermen. Many people in this area of Cambodia are poor and struggle to make a living even in normal times, but those families who depended on money from the tourist trade have particularly suffered these past two years, so it is not surprising that the locals are fishing wherever they can find fish, whether or not the area is "protected".

January 18, 2023
More no-fishing zones to protect dolphins

As crackdowns on illegal fishing continue, authorities are now focusing on demarcating more areas to be turned into dolphin sanctuaries.

Fishery Administration Deputy Director Ing Try said yesterday that officials are working on demarcating zones in the Mekong River at Kratie and Stung Treng provinces, where there is a sizeable population of Irrawady Dolphins.

“We have finished preparing the sub-decree to demarcate core zones in Cambodia as protection areas for dolphins,” he said. “We are working on new measures to prevent illegal fishing in these areas after Prime Minister HE ordered that endangered dolphins must be protected.”

“This draft sub-decree was prepared by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries and provincial officials and will be sent to the Cabinet and Prime Minister for approval,” Try added.

He noted that in the sub-decree all fishing is strictly banned at the demarcated zones.

Mok Ponlok, director of the Kratie Provincial Fisheries Administration, said yesterday that they have doubled patrols to crack down on all forms of illegal fishing in the Mekong River.

Ponlok noted that provincial officials have cracked down on several fishery crimes since the beginning of the year.

“We have taken a no-nonsense stand against such crimes and measures, including arresting suspects and confiscating the fishing gear. We can’t allow them to fish in protected zones because it threatens dolphins’ lives,” he said.

“We still allow fishing in the Mekong River but not in areas which have been demarcated as dolphin conservation zones,” Ponlok added.
https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501221400/ ... -dolphins/

WWF Cambodia Highlights Significance of Mekong Dolphin Photo-Identification Surveys
AKP Phnom Penh, January 30, 2023 --
Mekong dolphin photo-identification surveys play an important role in monitoring the dolphin population in the river, said the WWF Cambodia.

According to its recent news release, the study is conducted every two or three years by the researchers of the Fisheries Administration and WWF in the dolphin's habitat covering a 180 km stretch of the Mekong, from Kratie to Stung Treng provinces, Cambodia.

This first photo-identification survey out of a series of three surveys in 2023 was conducted from Jan. 12-17, 2023, also with the participation of international experts from the Sarasota Dolphin Research Center Program, U.S. Marine Mammal Commission, and IUCN SSC Cetacean Specialist Group.

The data from this current identification survey will be included with the following two surveys for this year to support a 2023 population estimate. The report is crucial for providing an update on the Mekong population and supporting relevant government agencies at all levels, NGO partners, and wildlife scientists in defining innovative measures for strengthening the conservation of the Mekong dolphins.

The 2020 population surveys estimated that only 89 dolphins remain swimming in the Mekong from Kratie to Stung Treng. The Mekong Dolphins' survival is threatened by illegal fishing and the impact of upstream dams.

WWF stands ready to collaborate with all relevant stakeholders to support an enhanced management and conservation strategy to protect the critically endangered Mekong dolphins, considered Cambodia's national living treasure.
- AKP/WWF

February 23, 2023
21 fishermen reprimanded for encroaching dolphin sanctuary
Kratie provincial officials summoned 21 fishermen on Wednesday from Sambok commune, Chetr Borei district, Kratie province.

Mok Ponlok, director of the Kratie Fisheries Administration, said the 21 fishermen were illegally fishing in a dolphin-protected area of the Mekong River in Sambok commune.

According to a provincial official, they had just recently started illegally fishing in the dolphin-protected area, as the patrols had not seen them last year, Ponlok added.

“We don’t allow fisherman to enter the protected area in Chetr Borei district. This place has been under strict security to protect the remaining dolphins and illegal fishing can affect and endanger the biodiversity, especially for dolphins in the Mekong River,” said Ponlok.

The fishermen agreed to sign a contract to cease their illegal activities in the protected area and the authorities have confiscated there fishing equipment, Ponlok added.
https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501243746/ ... sanctuary/

GOOD NEWS !

Another Dolphin Calf Spotted at Kampi Pool in Kratie Province
AKP Phnom Penh, March 02, 2023 --

A newborn dolphin was spotted at Kampi deep pool in Kampi village, Sambok commune, Chetr Borei district, Kratie province on Mar. 1 during a Mekong dolphin census conducted by the Fisheries Administration of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) in cooperation with WWF.

The dolphin calf was found swimming along with a group of seven to eight other dolphins, the MAFF said in a news release.

According to the experts, it added, the one-metre-long healthy dolphin calf was born on Feb. 27 or 28, 2023, weighing 9 to 10 kilogrammes. Its birth coincides with the issuance of a new sub-decree on the establishment of the Mekong River Dolphin Management Area.

It is reported that another dolphin calf was born in early February 2023, but it has not been photo captured yet.
- AKP

The battle to save Cambodia's river dolphins from extinction
by Suy Se AFP-jiji
Mar 16, 2023
Kratie, Cambodia – Bulging gray heads break the turbid waters of the Mekong River in Cambodia as a pod of rare Irrawaddy dolphins surfaces to breathe, drawing excited murmurs from tourists watching from nearby boats.
The thrilling sight may soon be no more than a memory, as numbers of the endangered mammals dwindle despite efforts to preserve them.


Illegal fishing and plastic waste have killed many, and the dolphins’ habitat has been reduced by upstream dams and climate change, which have had a major impact on water levels in the river.

The population in the Mekong has dwindled from 200, when the first census was taken in 1997, to just 89 in 2020.

In late February, Cambodian Prime Minister HE issued a new law creating protection zones in which fishing is banned.

Violators face up to a year in jail for using gillnets and up to five years for electrofishing in the conservation areas.

In one such zone, around the village of Kampi, 24 guards now patrol a 22-square-kilometer (8.5-square-mile) stretch of river 24 hours a day.

“If they lay gillnets in the conservation zones, we will arrest them. If they use electrofishing, there is no mercy, they will be arrested and sent to court,” said Ponlork.

Many locals who make a living taking tourists to see dolphins or selling related souvenirs are also worried about the mammals’ future.

“If the dolphins are gone, we are over because our income is from dolphins,” said Meas Mary, 53, who makes up to $15 a day running boat trips.
“Before there were a lot of dolphins. Now they are disappearing. I am so worried.”

Excerpts from: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2023/ ... -dolphins/

Cambodia News, (Stung Treng Province): On March 19, 2023, at 6:30am, a fisheries official in Stung Treng Province found a dead dolphin at Koh Preah in the upper Mekong. No nets were attached to the carcass, but there are marks on the abdomen that may indicate that the dolphin drowned after it became entangled in a net or a trap.

Officials contacted the WWF in Kratie to come and retrieve the dolphin carcass, in order to conduct an autopsy and determine the cause of death.
The dolphin weighed more than 190 kilograms.

Another Dolphin Calf Spotted at Kampi Pool
AKP Phnom Penh, April 18, 2023 --

A newborn dolphin has been spotted at Kampi deep pool in Kampi village, Chetr Borei district, Kratie province, said the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) in a news release.

This is the second dolphin calf recorded in 2023, MAFF underlined, adding that it was found on April 15 swimming along with a group of adult dolphins by a tourist boat driver who then informed concerned officials of the provincial fisheries cantonment and WWF.

The newborn dolphin is estimated to be only 3 days old, according to the research team of Kratie provincial fisheries cantonment and WWF who monitored the dolphin on April 18.

Last year, six dolphin calves have been registered, the same number as in 2021.

The Mekong’s Irrawaddy dolphin (Orcaella brevirostris) is listed as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List.

On Feb. 27, 2023, Prime Minister Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo HE signed a sub-decree to create a dolphin conservation and protection zones stretching for 120 kilometres along the Mekong River in the Stung Treng and Kratie provinces.
By Phal Sophanith
AKP

A baby dolphin has been found dead, caught in a fishing net :

(Photo: Fisheries Administration)

A Dolphin Calf Found Dead, a Tragic Loss for the Endangered Species
Phnom Penh, April 20, 2023 --
A male Mekong Irrawaddy dolphin calf was found dead in Saob commune, Prek Prasab district, Kratie northeastern province on April 19.
According to the Fisheries Administration’s press release, the 0.87-metre-long dolphin calf is about 4 days old and weighs 10 kilogrammes.
An examination of the dolphin carcass led the research team to suggest that the dolphin died due to entanglement in gillnet, it added.

The Mekong Irrawaddy dolphins (Orcaella brevirostris) are fully protected under Cambodia’s Fisheries Law. The population is ranked as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List, the highest international threat ranking for endangered species.
The Mekong Irrawaddy dolphins are a living natural treasure of Cambodia with about 90 individuals currently living along the Mekong River in Kratie and Stung Treng provinces.

On Feb. 27, 2023, Prime Minister Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo HE signed a sub-decree to create a dolphin conservation and protection zones stretching for 120 kilometres along the Mekong River in the the two provinces.
By Phal Sophanith - AKP