Description

In recent years the importance of wild-capture inland fisheries in the Mekong River Basin to human livelihoods and food security has become increasingly evident, with estimates of fish catches rising from just 357,000 tons in 1991 to over 3 million tons in 2005, making the Mekong Basin home to the world’s most important inland capture fisheries. This rise in catch statistics is not due to fishing actually increasing, but is rather because of better understandings of the significance of wild-caught fisheries to rural livelihoods. Paradoxically, just as Mekong fisheries have gained more recognition, efforts to develop destructive large hydroelectric dams have accelerated. Dams are being planned both on the mainstream Mekong River and on large important tributaries of the Mekong River, and would block crucial fish migrations. These dams would also variously alter water quality and hydrological conditions, impacting fish habitat and leading to declines in fisheries far from where the dams would be built. Adopting a political ecology approach, this paper considers crucial geographical issues associated with fisheries and large dam development in the Mekong River Basin. In particular, I consider how national, regional and international politics; state territorialization; and power relations are affecting the geopolitical landscape as it relates to dams and fisheries.

Ian G. Baird is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Geography, University of Wisconsin-Madison. Originally from Canada, Professor Baird lived and conducted research in Laos, Cambodia and Thailand for over 20 years. His diverse research interests include political ecology, Mekong fisheries, economic land concessions, and upland peoples in mainland Southeast Asia.