The Mekong was an incredible place. The whole industry is fishing. All the banks are lined with nets. The people are out in small boats casting nets. There are big fishing rigs.
The river we went on is a tributary to the big lake. The silty water is very fecund and abounds with small fish. The people catch the tiny fish and grind them to fish paste to ell in the market. The women cover up with masks to protect their faces from the sun. The kids are often naked. Tiny kids swim and dive in the water. There is no health and safety here.
The people are transient fishers. The houses are ramshackle on stilts or floating rafts because the water rises over twenty feet and floods the land. There was a lot of wild-life – big black and white herons, kingfishers and snakes.
I fear that the over-fishing is going to kill the golden goose – the overpopulation is causing immense pressure on the ecosystem. Killing the tiny fish will deplenish the stock.
