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Fishery and Aquaculture Country Profiles The Lao People's Democratic Republic

 

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• United Nations Geospatial Information Section http://www.un.org/Depts/Cartographic/english/htmain.htm
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The boundaries and names shown and the designations used on this map do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of FAO concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers and boundaries. Dashed lines on maps represent approximate border lines for which there may not yet be full agreement.

Part I Statistics and main indicators

1. Country brief
2. General geographic and economic indicators
3. FAO Fisheries statistics

The Profile (2006)

Additional information

2. FAO Thematic data bases
3. Publications
4. Meetings & News archive

⇧Part I Statistics and main indicators

Part I of the Fishery and Aquaculture Country Profile is compiled using the most up-to-date information available from the FAO Country briefs and Statistics programmes at the time of publication. The Country Brief and the FAO Fisheries Statistics provided in Part I may, however, have been prepared at different times, which would explain any inconsistencies.

Country briefUpdated 05-2020

Lao People's Democratic Republic (PDR) is a land-locked country with extensive freshwater resources, estimated at 333.6 km2, primarily as a result of the whole country being a part of the Lower Mekong River Basin. The country has traditionally relied on fish as an important element of animal protein supply to its population and is heavily reliant on its aquatic resources and biodiversity for food security and livelihoods. Inland fisheries production is based on the considerable water resources of the country, e.g. Mekong River and its tributaries, rice fields, large and small reservoirs, and floodplains and lakes. Some 340 fish species have been recorded in Lao PDR. Most fishing in the country is subsistence fishing, although there is significant commercial fishing in the Nam Ngum Reservoir.

Estimated data show that the total fish production was about 175 000 tonnes in 2017, with aquaculture (104 000 tonnes) representing 59 percent of this total and having grown with an average growth rate of 5 percent from 2005. Aquaculture production is practiced in fish ponds, cages, rain-fed and irrigated rice fields. Capture fishery figures are not considered very reliable as they are not based on a systematic data collection.

In 2018 an estimated 55 200 people were engaged in aquaculture and a further 15 300 in inland fisheries. Fishing in public waters is the most important secondary occupation of farm households. According to the 2010/2011 agriculture census, 526 300 farm households (67 percent) were involved in fishing. The number of farm household engaged in aquaculture was 68 200 in 2011. Data suggest that most fish produced from rural aquaculture is consumed at home, or at least is not directly marketed. Women play a key role in processing and marketing fish. Recent work on the consumption of fish in Lao households and other forms of verification such as economic and consumption census, provides a figure for household consumption of 28.6 kg/caput/year, consisting of 24.5 kg of finfish and the rest being various aquatic organisms, all of almost exclusively wild caught and freshwater in origin. FAO figure for apparent per capita fish consumption in 2017 is of 25.6 kg/year.

There is considerable trade in fish within the Mekong River Basin (particularly to Thailand) and its neighbouring catchments. However, no official data are provided to FAO. In 2018 the estimated imports of fish and fishery products were valued at USD 4.3 million.

 

Membership in Regional Fishery Bodies

1. International Whaling Commission (IWC)
2. Mekong River Commission (MRC)
3. Network of Aquaculture Centers in Asia-Pacific (NACA)
4. Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC)

Updated 2006⇧The Profile

This country profile provides statistics and indicators produced through FAO’s Statistics programmes, supplemented with information derived from national and other sources and valid at the time of compilation.

⇧Additional information

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