Sustaining the heartbeat of the Mekong Basin
The Mekong has another point of origin: the Tonle Sap Lake in Cambodia. Each year life springs from the lake, mostly in the form of a massive fish population that migrates to the far reaches of the Mekong system both upstream and downstream. This annual migration provides tens of millions of households throughout the Mekong Basin with regular protein. While the total catch from wild fisheries in all of North America’s lakes and rivers is 160,000 tons, each year the Mekong system produces 2.6 million tons. The Tonle Sap alone provides around 500,000 tons, comprising 75% of Cambodians’ protein intake, and making it the world’s largest freshwater fishery.
But this rich resource is threatened by upstream dam construction, overfishing, unregulated agricultural practices and climate change.
Brian Eyler, Courtney Weatherby
