Fishermen along the Sangke River in Battambang province are happy in their work as the cool season arrived early this year. They have been recorded large catches this season, especially in the lower part of the Sala Ta Orn dam in Prek Kanchreng village of Ek Phnom district’s Prek Norint commune.

San, a fisherman in the district’s Prek Luong village and commune, told The Post that the Sangke River had seen huge catches just last week.

“More than a week ago, we made a huge catch of fish. We set our nets and caught enough to make up to 150,000 riel [$36] a day, with 1kg of fish sold for between 1,500 and 4,000 riel depending on their type and their individual sizes,” he added.

He said they had not had large yields in the past few days, as it had been overcast and rainy. However, he was pleased that they would be able to make prahok – Cambodian fermented fish paste – and smoke fish later this month and into December.

Aliza, a fisherwoman from Prek Kanchreng village, said fishermen made good catches of fish and shrimp since the beginning of the season. Her family was able to catch 50 to 60kg a day, using trawl and hand-cast nets.

“I was really happy because I was able to make between 200,000 and 300,000 riel a day,” she added.

She called on all fishermen to stop using illegal fishing tools, to ensure the sustainability of the Kingdom’s fisheries resources.