January 4, 2012

Nao Thuok, director general of the Fisheries Administration, said Tuesday (Jan 3) that Cambodia's 2011 fresh and processed fish exports recorded 30,000 tonnes, down 14% from 2010 figure of 35,000 tonnes.

The country's fish exports earning totalled US$60 million last year, up 50% from its 2010 revenue of US$40 million, he added.

In 2011, the average price for a tonne of fish was about US$2,000, up from 2010 price of some US$1,150.

"The decline in fish exports last year was due to the government's cancellation of the licenses of all 35 fishing grounds around Tonle Sap Lake, so the catches have declined," he said. "But the quantity of fish in natural lakes has remarkably increased."

The fish has been exported to neighbouring countries such as Vietnam and Thailand, as well as Singapore, China's Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea.

Thuok said that last year's output of natural and raised fish was about 600,000 tonnes, up from 550,000 tonnes in a year earlier.