Advocacy in Cambodia: Increasing Democratic ... - Pact Cambodia

level can sustainable resource use be ensured.
Relationships between the DoF and NGOs
were such that NGOs were able to participate in
the drafting of the sub-decree. When the draft was
ready in early 2001, the fisheries network
organized a series of provincial workshops to
obtain feedback from the grassroots level. NGOs
expressed a need that they, along with members
of fishing communities, be
allowed to participate in a
national workshop on the
community fisheries subdecree.
Having already had one
challenging experience, the
DoF was reluctant to enter
into a consultation process,
which involves direct
confrontation and the
expectation that input will be
seriously considered. Instead
they requested that NGOs
submit comments in writing. NGOs, however were
persistent in their lobbying of donors and other
concerned agencies, who in turn met with Oxfam
GB (which was funding the workshop) and also
lobbied the Mekong River Commission. In this
way, NGOs used multiple channels to successfully
advocate for participation in the national meeting.
The consultation itself was slow and
strenuous and the workshop was eventually
extended for two days so that all articles could be
reviewed. The process was sometimes tense, and
a major challenge was reconciling the individual
problems of fishing community representatives
with the larger, more general issues involved in
policymaking.
Harmonizing Understanding of Community
Fisheries
In August 2001, the UNDP/Global
Environment Facility funded a stakeholders
workshop organized by the DoF, Oxfam GB,
Oxfam America, and Wetlands International, in
order to get people at all levels to reach a common
understanding of community fisheries. The
workshop was needed because there are different
reasons for organizing community fisheries and
agencies use different approaches depending on
the context. For example, communities that have
lost access to their resources usually have a very
strong sense of ownership. They have a vested
interest in organizing themselves and can usually
do so through their own initiative. The motivation
is quite different however, in communities where
the purpose is simply to improve sustainable
resource management. In another example, FAO
in Siem Reap has organized community fisheries
The Community Fisheries
Sub-decree aims to preserve fishing
resources by involving communities in
their co-management. The
assumption behind this sub-decree is
that only by decentralizing resource
management to the local level can
sustainable resource use be
ensured.
using the medium-scale classification, while in
Battambang NGOs have organized groups using
the small-scale classification. This divergence in
interpretation and approach sets the stage for
discontent in communities that have more limited
fishing rights than others.
During the stakeholders workshop, the DoF
Director presented a draft of the community
fisheries sub-decree and
indicated that comments
were welcome. Noticing that
many of their
recommendations had been
included, participants wrote
a letter commending the
Department on its work.
The DoF has since
forwarded the draft subdecree
to the Ministry of
Agriculture for final approval
before it is sent to the Council
of Ministers. Recent events
indicate however, that there has been a
communication gap between the DoF and the
Ministry, as the most recent draft omits many of
the recommendations included as a result of the
consultation process. A major issue is that the new
draft reintroduces the family-scale limitation that
had been previously removed. Advocates of
changing this article claim that it contradicts the
Prime Minister’s statement that people will be
allowed to do medium-scale fishing without being
taxed. Some also argue that if people are limited
to small-scale fishing there is no point in
promoting community-managed fisheries. DoF
officials point out that omission of the small-scale
fishing category is akin to ignoring the Fisheries
Law. This suggests that the Community Fisheries
sub-decree is premature as long as a new Fisheries
Law has not been drafted and enacted.
Another point of contention is who should
be responsible for dealing with violators - local
authorities or the DoF. During the consultation
workshops, community members indicated that
they wanted the right to report violations, as they
are in the best position to know when violations
occur. The Ministry argues that this is not the role
of the public. Other points of contention include
whether the regulations of a community fisheries
association will be prepared by the community or
by the DoF, and whether civil servants will be
allowed to become members of associations.
Fisheries Law
The World Bank’s Agriculture Production
Improvement Project (APIC) has a fishing
component that includes developing a fisheries
master plan and a fishing law. The fisheries master
Case Studies
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