This report describes the national-level requirements for data collection and sharing mechanisms for fisheries co-management in Cambodia. It presents the findings from a thorough literature review and workshops, group and individual interviews conducted by a NACA consultant in Cambodia in November and December 2003.

The ambitious scope of the report combined with the limited time frame and funding available to compile it necessitated the extensive use of secondary data, including both published and unpublished material written by staff of the agencies and organisations involved, with very limited editing of material used. All possible efforts were made to generate information in participation with the government institutions responsible for managing the fisheries, and all contributors (as well as many other stakeholders) were provided with multiple opportunities to comment on the report content. All contributors are listed on the front page of the report.

The report format, which was prescribed with the terms of reference, was elaborate and the suggested contents of several sections overlapped considerably. Rather than repeating information, a reference to previous sections was inserted where information was thought to otherwise be repeated. Although the suggested table of contents indicated that details should be provided in many areas, the allocated funding and time frame for the production of the report clearly limited the detail of information included.

The community fisheries in Cambodia are at a very early stage of development, and the exact management responsibilities are still poorly understood by many stakeholders. Because the DoF and the CFDO are still traversing a steep learning curve with respect to the management of community fisheries, the formulation of exact cost-effective data collection and sharing strategies was not feasible at the time of the survey. Rather, this report aimed to relate the information needs voiced by participants in this study, which can be taken to represent the ideas currently considered within the DoF in Cambodia.