Freshwater Fisheries of Cambodia, I: The Bagnet (Dai) Fishery in the Tonle Sap River

Abstract

The bagnet or dai fisheries are seasonally operated in the Tonle Sap River and contribute significantly to the freshwater capture fisheries production of Cambodia. The fisheries exploit largely the current years' crop of small fish species migrating out of flooded areas around the Great Lake and Tonle Sap River to the Mekong River. Migration is strongly influenced by the lunar phase. No reliable data on catches and species are available. A special sampling program de­signed using data collected during part of the last season is presented here.