The Ministry of Interior sent a 72-person force to Kampong Chhnang yesterday to fight illegal fishing, while crackdowns also continued in Banteay Meanchey.

Ngin Hun, director of the Kampong Chhnang fisheries department, said that joint forces seized and burned fishing materials in Boribor and Kampong Leng district yesterday, including 3,700 metres of nets and 4,200 posts for mooring them.

He added that a few days ago, joint forces launched a crackdown on fishing crimes in 136 areas of Kampong Chhnang, but called for more support. “Right now, we lack of means and forces” he said.

Lonh Vuthy, chief of the Banteay Meanchey Fisheries Administration, said that a 30-person team consisting of mixed authorities seized and burned illegal tackle, and released 20 kilograms of juvenile fish in Poipet commune.

“Fishery crime crackdowns are not an easy task, and it is like the shadow always following the body which means that it usually happens again within a week after the authority’s crackdown,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Wildlife Rapid Rescue Team (WRRT) cracked down on separate wildlife crimes in three restaurants in Pailin and one in Pursat on Monday and Tuesday, confiscating some 30 kilos of illicit game meat being illegally sold to customers. Some of the meat belonged to porcupines on the Kingdom’s official list of protected “rare animals”.