The challenge

Many fisheries in South East Asia are currently under threat from the rapid and widespread expansion of  irrigation and hydropower infrastructure.

Large multilateral development banks (including the Asian Development Bank (ADB), World Bank (WB) and International Monetary Fund(IMF)) are investing billions of dollars in a new wave of irrigation infrastructure to construct new systems and refurbish old and failing systems

Although such flood control and irrigation systems are advantageous for rice growing, they block important migration pathways for fish seeking access to critical nursery and feeding habitats.

How this affects communities

Fish are a main protein source and trade/barter commodity,  upon which many people depend for food security and income in South East Asia.

There is a major institutional problem where development banks like ADB and WB implement such programs in isolation from other development agencies and often between their own subprojects. Often the only coordination happens through irrigation departments. Despite these investment programs potentially having significant negative fisheries impacts, there is rarely collaboration between irrigation and fisheries agendas.

Although these infrastructure programs may provide river communities with a more stable income from improved rice yields, they risk losing fishing income and an important source of protein and essential nutrients; leading to loss of key livelihood systems, poorer nutrition and social disruption.

• Project name: FishTech: Integrating technical fisheries solutions into river development programs across South East Asia, (2020 -2025)
• Funding: ACIAR $7.413M