Fishing rights

Siem Reap Governor Sou Phirin on Monday rejected demands from fishermen in Chong Khneas commune to permit the use of nets with mesh finer than 4 centimetres, though he also gave out 50-kilogram sacks of rice to 85 protesters who said they had been negatively affected by a crackdown on their fishing equipment, officials said. Duk Chorn, one of the fishermen, said afterwards that they would consider halting protests calling for finer nets. The protests began after local officials destroyed some of their equipment last month.