NACA was privileged to have the opportunity to attend the National Fish Day celebrations in Cambodia, held at the Kdol Reservoir in Kampol Chhnange Province on 1 July and organised by the Fisheries Administration.

Approximately 10,000 people attended the ceremony, including many school children and villagers from surrounding areas, which was presided over by Prime Minister Hun Sen. The Director General of the Fisheries Administration gave a report on fisheries and aquaculture development over the past year. This was followed by a speech by the Prime Minister who spoke at length about recent changes to fisheries laws including the replacement of the fishing lot system with an open access fishing regime in inland waters and the need to observe conservation measures such as respecting closed seasons to allow fish to breed, the protection of conservation areas and bans on illegal types of fishing gear.

The ceremony concluded with the release of approximately 1.5 million fry into the reservoir, as well as a large number of adult broodstock of a wide variety of species.