In this edition, we feature two articles on a couple of issues that are both highly topical and extremely complex—hydropower development and climate change.
The first article examines what has happened to wild fish stocks in two river basins on the Pacific seaboard of North America. The two rivers have very different histories. One has dams on tributaries but not on its mainstream while the other has dams on both. In discussing the implications for salmon in the two rivers, we look at what we might learn from the different development approaches in managing water resource development in the Lower Mekong Basin.
The second article looks at a regional climate change initiative recently launched by the Mekong River Commission in cooperation with international and regional partners. If the Lower Mekong Basin becomes warmer and receives more rain in the wet season, what are the implications for fisheries, especially in countries like Viet Nam and Cambodia, whose fisheries may be particularly vulnerable to climate change?
Also featured in this issue are the latest efforts to develop certification standards for farmed catfish and the launch of an MRC survey of fish larvae aimed at identifying significant fish spawning grounds along the Mekong mainstream. We also feature a clam fishery in the Mekong Delta, which hopes to become the second fishery in Asia to be certified as sustainable and well managed, and look at the important contribution of fisheries to Cambodia's economy. And as part of an occasional new series, we look back at the foundations of regional fisheries cooperation in the early 1990s.
Our special insert in this edition is devoted to freshwater aquariums in Thailand, notably the Bueng Chawak Exhibition Centre for Aquatic Animals in Suphan Buri province which attracts tens of thousands of visitors each month. If properly managed, it seems that freshwater aquariums can not only raise public awareness of fisheries but also make money at the same time.