Eric Baran

The Mekong River is home to the largest inland fishery in the world, which is due in part to its exceptional sediment and nutrient loads. The number of dams in the basin is expected to increase from 16 in the year 2000 to between 77 and 136 by 2030. These dams retain and accumulate sediments and nutrients in their reservoirs; as such, planned dam d...

Basin-scale planning is needed to minimize impacts in mega-diverse rivers

The Mekong River Basin, site of the biggest inland fishery in the world, is undergoing massive hydropower development. Planned dams will block critical fish migration routes between the river's downstream floodplains and upstream tributaries. Here we estimate fish biomass and biodiversity losses in numerous damming scenarios using a simple ecologic...

An investigation of fishermen's knowledge of fish occurrence patterns on various spatio-temporal scales has been realized in the Fatala Estuary (Guinea, West Africa), accompanied by a one-year survey with standardized gill-net sets. Seventy one fishermen distributed in four zones corresponding to gill-net sampling sites were questioned about season...

This paper focuses on relationships between mangroves and coastal fish resources. A review of the literature highlights the lack of quantified relationships. We show that mangroves can be considered as a particular case of an estuarine environment, and then address the broader issue of the relationships between tropical estuaries and fishery resour...

Starting from a framework defining a fishery as a combination of environmental, biological, social, economic and policy components, we review the development process and current status of the reservoir fishery of Nam Theun 2 Dam in Lao PDR. The aquatic environment was extensively studied and fishing monitored ; the reservoir features a low producti...

This publication reviews the current state of knowledge of inland capture fisheries and aquaculture in Myanmar, using data from the past decade. The book aims to highlight challenges and opportunities in Myanmar’s fisheries sector, and to contribute to information sharing and capacity building for better management and sustainable use of the countr...

The Nam Theun 2 Reservoir, impounded in 2008 on a tributary of the Mekong (Lao PDR), is one of the largest hydroelectric project in Southeast Asia of the last ten years (lake surface between 86 km² at low level and 489 km² at the highest). Many environmental and social programs were developed in collaboration of local institutions and population si...

In the developing world, the majority of people who fish in inland areas do so primarily for subsistence needs. This suggests that survey or census questionnaires which collect information concerning the occupations of respondents will underreport the number of people who fish, and corollary to this, misrepresent dependence on fishing as a support...

This paper details the approaches and tools developed at ICLARM to contribute to the sustainable management of fish as a food resource in the Mekong River Basin. Multiple partnerships have been established in order to gather, compile, analyse and compare existing data on fish resources. Core contributions from Mekong River Commission projects have...

We present here a methodology developed for gathering socioeconomic and environmental survey data in the field. The system is divided into two interfaces: i) an Android tablet with survey software for data collection in the field and ii) a back office application for questionnaire management and data compilation. Each of these technical components...

The present paper introduces a new method for data gathering using digital tablets in the field. The method is part of a fisheries study aimed at identifying migration patterns and breeding sites of key commercial fish species in Myanmar. The research is based on systematic and structured gathering of local knowledge along a 1,000 km long segment o...

A brief review of recent information and research findings about Mekong fish species and fisheries

In Southeast Asia rural inhabitants typically engage in a portfolio of activities, making it difficult to place individuals into discreet occupational groups. Although rice farming is the central activity of most rural households, fishing can also play an important role in livelihoods. For instance in Cambodia while only 2% of households engage in...

MK3 Optimising cascades of hydropower FISHERIES & ENVIRONMENT

This study has considered the likely impacts of building dams on the Mekong, using various scenarios based upon current proposals and plans. These impacts include the likely effect of such dams on fish migrations to and from spawning grounds; the subsequent effect on breeding and therefore fish stocks; the potential changes to food security arising...

The Mekong River is one of the great rivers of the world and is characterized by high fish biodiversity (Valbo-Jorgensen et al. 2009). The Mekong region is in fact a fish biodiversity hotspot whose richness is only now being revealed. During the last decade more than 279 new species of fish have been discovered in this basin alone (WWF 2009). An an...

Farmers in developing countries face a number of issues as they experience the rapid transition from subsistence farming to a more market-oriented rural economy. Commune Agroecosystems Analysis (CAEA) is a participatory analysis methodology used to identify and prioritize agricultural development needs at the commune level. Tools and techniques de...

Background/Question/Methods Hydropower development plans threaten the large fish biodiversity of the Mekong River. In particular, the conservation of over 90 migratory species depends on maintaining connectivity between upstream spawning sites and feeding regions in the downstream floodplains. To analyze impacts of dam construction, we develop a m...

The present report was prepared for the Water and Food Challenge Program project ôOptimizing the management of a cascade of reservoirs at the catchment levelö (MK3). It constitutes the baseline assessment of fish and fisheries in the Sesan River Basin. The objective of the MK3 project is to contribute knowledge and recommendations so that cascade...

The dynamics of aquatic resources in the canals of Bac Lieu Province, in southern Vietnam, are detailed and synthesized in this study. Nekton and eight environmental parameters were monitored in this province between 2004 and 2006, at 14 sites sampled three times a year. The study area, located along the coastal zone, is characterized by a variable...

The BayFish-Bac Lieu model presented in this chapter is a Bayesian model that aims to identify optimal water control regimes and trade-offs between water uses in order to improve management of water-dependent resources in the inland coastal area of Bac Lieu Province, Mekong Delta, Vietnam. The model was developed between 2004 and 2007 and integrate...

The past decade has seen increased international recognition of the importance of the services provided by natural ecosystems. It is unclear however whether such international awareness will lead to improved environmental management in many regions. We explore this issue by examining the specific case of fish migration and dams on the Mekong river....

This paper draws on approaches in ecology, biology and policy analysis to examine the tensions between dams and fisheries in the Lower Mekong Basin. We review the exceptional importance of Mekong fisheries in terms of total catch, economic value and their role in rural livelihoods. The ecological conditions necessary to sustain the fish production...

This document provides a simple introduction to research methods and analysis tools for biologists or environmental scientists, with particular emphasis on fish biology in devleoping countries.

In October 2005, a consortium of partners led by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) proposed a project aimed at integrating fish resources management in agricultural management in the Tonle Sap area. This 2-years project assistance was accepted for funding by the Challenge Program on Water and Food and started in January 2008. The...

Fisheries and Mekong infrastructure (dams, roads, etc) in the Tonle Sap Great Lake in Cambodia

This document is a synthesis of the major findings and recommendation of a study on the influence of built structures on the fisheries of the Tonle Sap Lake. The multidisciplinary study analysed the influence and impact of built structures on hydrology, fish, and ultimately on people. The project established a database of major structures around th...

A science brief on the effects of the construction of Don Sahong dam on fisheries in the Mekong estuary.

This report provides an overview of the biological, economical, social and cultural values of river fisheries in the Lower Mekong Basin (Yunan, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam). The report also identifies the main impacts of environmental changes on these values.

This chapter presents the methodological aspects of the development of a decision support system (DSS) based on Bayesian networks and aiming at assisting in the management of water-dependent resources (rice, fish, shrimp and crab). The principles of Bayesian networks are introduced, then the steps of model development are detailed and illustrated b...

This policy brief is based on an initiative being made at the IFReDI in Cambodia to model the crucial hydrological, bio-ecological and socioeconomic factors that deserve attention if the fish catch in Cambodia is to be sustained.

This CD-ROM contains full database of the "Khone Fall fisheries database" and detailed analyses done in the companion report "Ecological studies of fish in the Khone Falls area (Mekong River, Southern Lao PDR).

Large rivers and their floodplains support a significant proportion of the world's biodiversity and provide important goods and ecological services to society, including fisheries. Riverine ecosystems and fisheries are subject to intense pressure from a wide range of anthropogenic disturbances, the main ones being impacts from altered land use, mod...

Environmental management is a field where the number of variables, their interactions and feed-back loops require tools to integrate information, build scenarios and support decision-making. Among the various kinds of Decision Support Systems, Bayesian Belief networks have proven to be quite useful as they can integrate quantitative information as...

In tropical floodplain systems local populations are generally highly dependent upon the system's natural aquatic resources. In such systems the annual fish production depends on a combination of biological and physical parameters, principally 1) hydrological factors; 2) environmental factors and 3) fish migrations. Developing management plans is c...

The aquatic ecosystem work of the Challenge Program (CP) on Water and Food will seek to develop and apply systems of management that sustain and, where possible, enhance the benefits to people from these systems as an integral part of approaches to improving water productivity at the basin level. It will do so through analysis, development and diss...

This report summarises general and detailed features of catches from the bagnet ("dai") fishery in Cambodia between 1995 and 1999, as monitored by the MRC/DoF/DANIDA Management of the Freshwater Capture Fisheries Project (MFCFP) in Phnom Penh.

This document summarises the outputs of a modelling approach of the relationships between hydrology and fisheries production in the Mekong River Basin. Environment (floodplains, wetlands and their vegetation) has also been taken into account as a constitutive part of the system.

This paper deals with relationships between hydrology, wetlands and fisheries production in the Mekong River Basin. A five-year monitoring of the bag net ("dai") fishery in the Tonle Sap River (Cambodia) showed a strong correlation between catches and water level in the same year. One taxon making up to 37% of total catches explains most of the rel...

ICLARM Summary Mangroves are claimed to be important for fish production; the ecological background of these relationships is well documented, but to date, two basic questions regarding mangroves and the coastal fish resource remain unanswered: -Are the ecological roles of mangroves similar in clear reef environments and turbid estuarine zones? -Ca...

In West Africa (between Ivory Coast and Sénégal), estuarine environments vary from lagoons to high discharge rivers to inverse hypersaline estuaries. This results in a high diversity of estuarine fish species, with an important turnover and a core of ubiquitous species. The species richness of a given estuary depends on the combination of hydrologi...

Among users of the water resource are fishes and fishermen. Given the importance of fisheries in the Lower Mekong River Basin, water management schemes must take the fish resource into consideration. Therefore hydrological modelling must encompass hydrobiological issues of critical importance for fisheries. This presentation is an overview of the p...

BARAN (E.) 1999: A review of quantified relationships between mangroves and coastal resources. ABSTRACT This paper focuses on relationships between mangroves and coastal resources (fish and shrimps). A review of the literature highlights the lack of quantified relationships in this field. This leads to a definition of priorities for further scienti...

Gillnet sampling was conducted for a year in a tropical mangrove creek (SW Madagascar), characterized by a limited freshwater influence, a high turbidity and a tidal range up to 3 m. Sixty species of juvenile fishes were caught, 44 species being of commercial interest. Catches were dominated by Gerreidae (27% of total abundance), Teraponidae (16%),...

Cette étude porte sur le peuplement de poissons de l'estuaire du fleuve Fatala situé en zone de mangrove sur une côte à forte pluviométrie (3500 mm d'eau/an) et à marnage important. L'échantillonnage, basé sur deux engins principaux (senne tournante coulissante et filets maillants), a permis de décrire la composition du peuplement, de mettre en évi...

Afin de tester l'influence du système fluvial amont sur l'ichtyofaune estuarienne, abondance et richesse spécifique ont été suivies dans un estuaire vrai et dans une ria distante de 20 kilomètres non reliée à un fleuve. Les résultats montrent qu'il n'y a pas de différence significative entre les deux systèmes estuariens pour ce qui est des abondanc...

This document is a review of all the information published worldwide about ten fish species that contribute significantly to Cambodian fishery resources.

This document is a review of all the information published worldwide about ten fish species that contribute significantly to Cambodian fishery resources.