Promoting the installation of fish passage in potential barriers in the Lower Mekong River Basin

Abstract

Under the Smart Infrastructure for the Mekong (SIM) Program of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Lower Mekong Fish Passage Conference was organized in Vientiane, Lao PDR in November 2016 to demonstrate how applied research can be used to enhance policy and decision-making across the Lower Mekong River Basin. Attended by more than 160 participants from 14 countries including global experts in riverine development, fish passage, and aquatic ecosystem management, the Conference came up with key messages that included: 1) demonstration projects applied in the field, tested, and showcased facilitate large-scale adoption and acceptance of end users and donors; and 2) partnerships among the researchers, local people, district/provincial governments, and national management agencies lead to greater success (Baumgartner et al., 2017). Along the line of such key messages, SEAFDEC in collaboration with the US Department of Interior (USDOI) has been carrying out the activities of the project “Implementing the Lower Mekong Fish Passage Initiative in Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam” from 2018 until 2021 with the goal of enhancing the capacity of the SEAFDEC Member Countries in the Lower Mekong River Basin to design, construct, implement, and assess fish passage. Through this Project, one demonstration fish passage was installed in each of the participating countries.