Socio-institutional Considerations of Fishway Implementation at the Community-level in Southeast Asia

Throughout Southeast Asia irrigation development has allowed for agricultural yield gains and is an important development activity. To minimise the adverse environmental and social implications of these barriers within water systems, ‘fish friendly’ irrigation structures have been implemented, allowing fish passage for migrating fish to complete their lifecycles. Fishway literature has focussed largely on the biological and physical elements of fishways and ignored the human dimensions, such as community level social context. Yet it is often people who are the beneficiaries of improved fish passage and required for the proper functioning of the infrastructure. This study explored this community level social context of fishway sites throughout Cambodia, Laos and Indonesia using a qualitative approach, drawing on interviews and focus group discussions. Our findings suggest 5 key lessons: 1) The “social licence” of fishways needs to be established with surrounding communities and renegotiated over time; 2) communities should somehow benefit from fishway implementation (at least not be harmed); 3) consider the socio-cultural context of the fishway place; 4) consider the socio-economic context of the fishway place; and 5) consider the socio-institutional context of the fishway place. We conclude that community-level dynamics need to be considered in fishway implementation for a more holistic approach. Further research in this area could focus on the informal and formal institutional arrangements of fishway site management.