Article
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Assessing the Potential for Small-Scale Aquaculture in Cambodia
Version 1
: Received: 28 May 2018 / Approved: 29 May 2018 / Online: 29 May 2018 (09:04:52 CEST)
A peer-reviewed article of this Preprint also exists.
Richardson, R.B.; Suvedi, M. Assessing the Potential for Small-Scale Aquaculture in Cambodia. Environments 2018, 5, 76. Richardson, R.B.; Suvedi, M. Assessing the Potential for Small-Scale Aquaculture in Cambodia. Environments 2018, 5, 76.
Abstract
Fisheries in Cambodia play an important role in supporting household food security and livelihoods throughout the country. Inland fisheries production is largely dependent on numerous ecosystem services, particularly the flood waters of the Tonle Sap Lake basin, which has been degraded from increased fishing pressure because of population growth and a rising demand for fish. To address the dual problem of food insecurity and overfishing, an integrated food security and climate change program involved the promotion of small-scale aquaculture through semi-intensive pond management. The objective of this study is to examine perceptions of small-scale aquaculture by participants in this program in order to assess the potential for aquaculture to contribute to household food security and conservation of the Tonle Sap Lake ecosystem. Focus group discussions and a household survey were conducted among current and previous fish farmers. Results demonstrate that most farmers continue to practice small-scale aquaculture as a means to supplement household food availability and income. Numerous barriers to adoption of small-scale aquaculture were identified, including access to water, prices of commercial fish feed, selling price of fish in markets, and concerns about profitability. Seasonal water scarcity is the most prominent challenge in promoting aquaculture technologies, so aquaculture development should be expanded in areas where there are abundant supplies of water, or where use of water storage techniques are feasible. Aquaculture technology appears to have the potential to contribute to food security, nutrition, and household income, and the expansion of the practice of small-scale aquaculture has the potential to reduce fishing pressure on the wild fisheries of the Tonle Sap Lake.
Keywords
aquaculture; fisheries; food security; water; Tonle Sap; Cambodia
Subject
SOCIAL SCIENCES, Economics
Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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