A policy alternative for lagoon management: case study of Sre Ambel coastal marine fisheries,Cambodia

Sre Ambel is the most productive coastal area for marine fisheries in Cambodia. This paper explores the management concept of extractive reserve instruments to find the most effective application in the coastal areas of Cambodia. Since there are various extractive models in the world, the most important objective is to determine which extractive reserve model is best suited to real practices where the ability of the fisheries’ residents to apply laws and guidelines vary from one place to another. To reflect these objectives, this paper looks at various examples around the world, especially from various Latin American countries. The level of local ability to apply laws and regulations is determined by the weight average index method. These results shows that fishers’ education levels are sufficient to apply laws and regulations, but their understanding of existing fisheries guidelines is still below average. Although the level to which they satisfy the guidelines is poor, local people are willing to establish new appropriate guidelines for future effective application. Therefore, local fishers have the ability to apply laws and regulations under new extractive reserve aspects. An extractive reserve policy combines all available instruments to manage the lagoon. The best alternative is to develop strong collaboration among the various stakeholders in the area. This converts an open-access to common property resource use regime. All instruments of extractive reserve were satisfied by the local fishers. However, extractive reserve seems to be similar with fish refuge concept which currently proposed by Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Centre (SEAFDEC).