Diadromous fish of the Mekong and management of long distance fish migrations at mainstem dams sites: Report prepared for ACIAR

The Mekong is home to over one thousand freshwater fish species which are an important source of biodiversity, food security and essential to economic productivity. These species produce about 2.3 million tonnes per year of fish and other aquatic animals, equivalent to 11 billion USD (So et al. 2015). Most people participate in fishing for household consumption in the Lower Mekong Basin (LMB). For example, about 80% of households in rural areas of Laos, Thailand, and Cambodia, and 60–95% of households in Vietnam participate in fishing to a certain extent (Hortle 2007). Their fish catch was often consumed domestically. Each person in the LMB consumed 34 kg of fish and other aquatic animals per year (Hortle 2007). However, fish yield and catch rates likely decrease recently over years (Ngor et al. 2018; Vu et al. 2021).