Fish Conservation Zones (FCZs), or areas that limit or prohibit fishing, have gained widespread popularity as fisheries management and conservation tools in marine and freshwater ecosystems around the world. By protecting critical habitats and allowing fish populations to increase in abundance, FCZs can serve dual purposes of protecting fish biodiversity and enhancing food security and livelihoods for local communities. Rapid development in the Mekong Basin has the potential to impact fish habitat and abundance, and effective fish conservation and management tools are urgently needed. Many organizations have engaged in establishing FCZs in the Mekong Basin, and FCZs number in the hundreds in Lao PDR alone. FISHBIO is working to establish FCZs in several villages on the mainstem Mekong River in northern Lao PDR, and has seen substantial local support for the concept. While FCZs are compelling in principle, the most important consideration is whether they are successful in practice. Biophysical, socio-economic and governance monitoring is greatly needed to address whether FCZs are effective tools for meeting their intended objectives. Both technological and community-based approaches can play an important role in the biological evaluation of FCZ effectiveness, and collecting such data could improve the management of FCZs throughout the region.

1. Sinsamout Ounboundisane,
Erin Loury, Samuel Leslie, and Shaara Ainsley
(FISHBIO)
sinsamout@fishbio.com
Fish Conservation Zones (FCZs) as Tools for
Fisheries Management and Conservation in Lao
PDR
Supported byPresented to AFS Portland
August 18, 2015

2. • Marine Protected Areas (MPAs)
• Locally Managed Marine Areas
(LMMAs)
• Ecological Reserves
• Fish Habitat Protection Area
(FHPA)
Many Examples of Limiting Use to Protect Aquatic Places
Carpenteria Salt Marsh Reserve Cottesloe Reef Fish Habitat Protected Area
Dry Tortugas Ecological Reserve
Gerick Bergsma 2009/Marine Photobank
Tsun-Thai Chai/Marine Photobank
Jiangang Luo/Marine Photobank

3. • Fish Conservation Zones (FCZs)
are areas that limit or prohibit
fishing activities to protect fish
populations.
• FCZs in Laos are entirely in
freshwater environments:
rivers, wetlands, reservoirs,
etc.
• FCZs may be closed seasonally
or year round.
• Move than 1,000 FCZs have
been created in Lao PDR.
Fish Conservation Zones: Freshwater Protection in Laos

4. • According to the Lao Fisheries Law, “Establishment and
protection of conservation zones for aquatic species and of
their habitats” is a basic principle of fisheries management.
• Fisheries Management Committees at the village level have
the right and duty to:
Legal Basis for FCZs in Lao Fisheries Law
• Identify areas for
conservation zones
• Propose regulations for
fisheries management
• Publicize fisheries
management plans
• Implement fisheries
management regulations

5. • Local Communities
• NGO Partners
• District Agriculture and Forestry Office
• Provincial Agriculture and Forestry Office
• Department of Livestock and Fisheries
FCZ Co-Management Involves Multiple Players

6. • Protect endangered fish
species
• Manage fishing pressure and
enhance food security
• Mitigate impacts from
developments such as
hydropower and mining
FCZs Can be Used for Multiple Purposes
Managing fishing pressure Hydropower mitigation
Aquatic species conservation

7. Protecting Species While Enhancing Food Security
Leslie 2015

8. • Benefits to aquatic species:
• Protection of deep-pool refuge areas
• Protection of spawning habitat and reproductive individuals
• Networks of FCZs can benefit migratory species
• Prohibition of destructive fishing practices (e.g. dynamite,
poison, electrofishing).
• Environmental benefits:
• Prohibit harvesting trees along the riverbank
• Prohibit sand and gravel extraction or gold mining
Potential Ecological Benefits of FCZs

9. • Enhanced fishing catches from FCZ “spillover”
• Fish “savings account” to be harvested by future generations
• Sense of ownership and responsibility to manage local
resources
• Protection of Other Aquatic Animals and plants
• Functional river habitats protected from destructive uses
Potential Community Benefits of FCZs

10. 1. Establishing FCZs for Endangered
Probarbus fishes in Northern Laos
(completed)
2. Establishing an FCZ for Probarbus and
Soft-Shelled Turtles at Kengmai
Rapids, Laos (ongoing)
3. Developing a Guidebook for
Monitoring FCZ Effectiveness
(ongoing)
4. Establishing FCZs in Indawgyi Lake,
Myanmar (Consultant to Fauna &
Flora International - ongoing)
FISHBIO’s Work on FCZs (Supported by CEPF)

11. FCZs for Endangered Probarbus Fishes
• Jullien’s Golden Carp (Probarbus
jullieni) = Endangered on IUCN
Red List
• Thicklipped Barb (Probarbus
labeamajor) = Endangered on
IUCN Red List
• Some of largest fishes in
Southeast Asia (up to 60 kg)
• Targeted with gill nets during
breeding season Dec-Feb

12. Finalize Regulations
Opening Ceremonies
FCZ Sign Installation
Enforcement Training
Establishing Fish Conservation Zones

13. • Community enforcement teams
patrolled FCZs during Probarbus
spawning season (Dec–March)
• Confiscated multiple nets and fishing
poles in the FCZ
• Left warning notices and educated
fishers about FCZ regulations
• Apprehended four fisherman using
illegal fishing gear; confiscated 60 kg of
fish
• Four illegal fishermen paid a total fine
of 2,500,000 kip ($300), which was
distributed to the local communities
Community Enforcement Can be Effective

14. Many Organizations Have Established Hundreds of FCZs Across
Laos

15. How many of these FCZs are actually working?
What are the successes and challenges?
What can we learn from one another?
Many Organizations Have Established Hundreds of FCZs Across
Laos

16. Few Studies of FCZ Effectiveness
• Surveys of Local Ecological Knowledge
about FCZs at 53 villages in Khong
District (Baird & Flaherty 2005)
• Fishers reported increases in many fish
populations after FCZ establishment
• 6 of these increased populations were
species associated with deep-water
pools (location of most FCZs)
• Mark-recapture pilot study at 2 FCZs in
Nam Kading (WWF and FISHBIO)
• Demonstrated effectiveness of T-bar tags
for Mekong fish mark-recapture
• Documented fish movements beyond
FCZ boundaries (Ounboundisane et al.
2013)

17. • Indicators provide a quantitative way to assess protected area
effectiveness.
• Effectiveness indicators have been developed for Marine
Protected Areas in the several categories (Pomeroy et al.
2004):
Next Steps: Need for Indicators of FCZ Effectiveness
• Biophysical (focal species
abundance, water quality, etc.)
• Socio-economic (perceptions of
seafood availability, household
income distribution, etc.)
• Governance (level of resource
conflict, enforcement coverage, etc.)
• New project will review and synthesize indicators for
application in freshwater FCZs.

18. • Develop best-practice guidelines for the scientific monitoring of
biophysical, socio-economic, and governance indicators of FCZ
effectiveness.
• Support a network of civil society organizations to use participatory
methods to test the monitoring guidelines.
• Disseminate the finalized best practices monitoring guidebook
throughout Lao PDR and support organizations to implement.
A Guidebook of Best Practices for Evaluating Indicators of
Effectiveness for Fish Conservation Zones in Lao PDR