Fish passages in the Mekong Delta

Charles Sturt University researcher Dr Lee Baumgartner and his team have conducted an international research and monitoring program, to observe the impact of water resource development on the Mekong River, which boasts the world’s most productive inland fishery.

The objective of this project was to assess whether fish pass technology in Mekong countries can be effectively applied to restore diminishing fisheries and shared with other Mekong countries to improve food security and livelihoods.

This project has multiple stages where the early proof-of-concept studies led to the construction of the first ‘test’ fish pass on the Mekong River, at Pak Peung village in Lao PDR. Since the Pak Peung fish pass was built, the list of constructed or planned fish passes has been expanded to (so far) include 19 in Lao PDR, five in Cambodia, one in Myanmar, two in Thailand, and one in Vietnam.

Other highlights have included the project team co-hosting the 2016 Lower Mekong Fish Passage and Fish Passage 2018 conferences; co-hosting four international fish passage masterclasses to train practitioners from Myanmar, Lao PDR, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam; and being awarded the internationally acclaimed “Distinguished Project Award” at the Fish Passage 2018 conference.