Importance of Inland Capture Fisheries in the Lower Mekong River Basin

The inland capture fisheries of the Lower Mekong River Basin (LMB) are the largest fisheries in the world. The current total fish catch in the LMB is about 2.3 million tonnes, which represents 20% of the world inland capture fisheries production. The capture fisheries are of enormous importance to more than 60 million people who are live in the LMB.  In the river basin where 70% of communities (or 42 million people) are rural rice farming and fishing are the main occupations for most people. Inland fisheries resources provide irreplaceable and vital contribution not only to regional food and nutrition security, employment and household income generation, but also have strong cultural and religious significance. Total first-sale value is estimated up to US$7.0 billion per year. It is noted that a significant part of the catches is consumed directly by households, thus directly contributing to rural peoples’ subsistence and without appearing in national accounts.  In the low land areas of the Lower Mekong Basin, protein from fisheries resources ranges from 47% to 80% of the total intake of animal protein, with the regional average per capita fish consumption of 46 kg person per year.