PHNOM PENH, July 1 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen on Friday called on fishermen to suspend their fishing activities during the annual moratorium season on commercial fishing from July to October.
"I'd like to urge people not to catch fish during the spawning season. If we were to eat one fish with eggs inside, we were to have killed tens of thousands of baby fishes to be," he said during the celebration of the 14th Fish Day at a reservoir in southwestern Kampong Speu province.
"Should we leave those mother fishes to breed and wait for time to catch them when the fishing season arrives, we would have a good catch."
The prime minister also called on people not to destroy inundated forests, which were habitats for fish to spawn, and not to use illegal fishing tools.
"Forbidden tools for electrocuting fish and other banned nets are very dangerous for fish resources," he said, advising farmers to expand fish raising in order to reduce the catches of natural fish.
On the occasion, Hun Sen released hundreds of thousands of aquatic creatures, including fish, shrimps, tortoises, turtles, frogs and eels, into the reservoir.
