Community fisheries in Lao PDR : a survey of techniques and issues

The fishing techniques which can be found in Laos provide a good illustration of the principle that culture is not a static museum display but a living, evolving aspect of everyday life. In virtually every part of the country new gears are being developed or adopted and old gears are being abandoned or modified to meet the changing social, economic and environmental conditions. Not only are fishing technologies evolving, they are also being moved around the country as people become more mobile with the continuing improvement of the transportation infrastructure. For example, in the suburbs of Vientiane one can see types of fishing equipment in daily use which were once confined to their places of origin in remote parts of the country.