Remarks by Ms. Andrea Pavlick, Environment Team Lead, Sustainable Economic Growth Office, USAID/Cambodia, Fishery Bioacoustics Workshop and Demonstration

(as prepared for delivery)

• Your Excellency Poum Sotha, Director General of Fishery Administration
• Representatives from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, and other ministries, Development Partners,
• Distinguished guests, ladies, and gentlemen

Good morning. It is an honor to be here with all of you at USAID’s Wonders of Mekong project Fishery Bioacoustics Workshop and Demonstration. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the Fisheries Administration and USAID’s Wonders of the Mekong project for their joint efforts.

Through Wonders of the Mekong, we raise public awareness of the many valuable ecosystem services provided by the Mekong River and Tonle Sap Lake. This watershed supports one of the world’s most varied and productive freshwater fisheries.

While the Tonle Sap has always been a critical element of Cambodia's food supply, the lake and its surrounding ecosystem are coming under increasing pressure from over-exploitation, habitat degradation, fragmentation, and loss.  Fisheries production has declined significantly in the last decade.

With more than 70 percent of Cambodians relying on food sourced from the Tonle Sap region, this watershed is an integral part of Cambodia's culture, economy and food security. The fishery is also a vital source of food and nutrition for rural people.

Today’s one-day workshop and demonstration of Fishery Bioacoustics will provide you with an overview of acoustic technology and how it is used to monitor fish biomass on the Tonle Sap River. I hope this overview leads to a lively discussion on the application of acoustic monitoring to fisheries management and the potential for a basin-wide network of biological monitoring stations.

The initial results of an ongoing pilot study of fish migration during the Tonle Sap River Dai fishery will identify opportunities and pathways to use acoustic technology to improve fisheries management in Cambodia and the lower Mekong Basin.

I am delighted to be here with all of you today as we recognize the work the USAID Wonders of Mekong project has done to share knowledge about the Mekong river system. I am also proud of the role that the Wonders of the Mekong project plays in promoting the sustainable management of these important freshwater, Mekong River fisheries. 

It is my hope that the techniques we explore today will contribute to effective fish monitoring and improved fisheries management that provides the Cambodian people with food security and sustainable livelihoods.

Thank you very much.