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THE DON SAHONG DAM

Ian G. Baird

Online publication date: 01 June 2011

To cite this Article Baird, Ian G.(2011) 'THE DON SAHONG DAM', Critical Asian Studies, 43: 2, 211 — 235
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 Critical Asian Studies
43:2 (2011), 211–235
Baird / Don Sahong Dam

THE DON SAHONG DAM

Potential Impacts on Regional
Fish Migrations, Livelihoods,
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and Human Health

Ian G. Baird

ABSTRACT: Plans are underway to construct twelve large hydropower projects on the
un-dammed lower and middle mainstream Mekong River in Laos, Thailand, and
Cambodia. One of the planned projects is a 30–32 meter–high hydroelectric dam
with an expected 240 MW installed generating capacity to be built on the Hou
Sahong Channel, less than one kilometer north of the Laos–Cambodia border, in
the Khone Falls area of Khong District, Champasak Province, southern Laos. The
project’s objective is to generate revenue by exporting electricity to Thailand or
Cambodia. Concerns have been raised about the Don Sahong Dam (DSD), however.
The main ones relate to potential repercussions on aquatic resources, and espe-
cially wild-capture fisheries dependent on migratory fish. This article examines the
regional implications of the DSD, including possible impacts on food security, nutri-
tion, and poverty alleviation. Fisheries losses in the Mekong Region from the DSD
would negatively affect the nutrition of hundreds of thousands or even millions of
people, especially in parts of Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand where nutritional stan-
dards are already low. Mekong fisheries are integral to food security in the region,
and the DSD would make it difficult for governments, especially in Laos and Cambo-
dia, to reach their health-related United Nations Millennium Development Goals
and their objectives for reducing poverty.

Sitting in a small canoe as the sun rose over the Mekong River, Bounleut, a
35-year-old farmer from a village in rural southern Laos, skillfully removed a me-
dium-sized carp from his net. He tossed the fish into the bamboo basket that his
five-year-old son Khammone was holding. Bounleut had caught four fish that
ISSN 1467-2715 print/1472-6033 online / 02 / 000211–25 ©2011 BCAS, Inc. DOI:10.1080/14672715.2011.570567
 morning, not as many as he used to catch when fishing with his father as a child,
but still more than enough to feed his family of seven for the day. He sold two of
the fish to generate income.
This scene occurs tens or even hundreds of thousands of times each morning
in hundreds of communities situated along the Mekong River, places where
people depend on wild fish for their daily subsistence and at least part of their
income. “We don’t raise fish, fish raise us,” Bounleut commented with a smile.
But then his face darkened. “We are not sure if my son’s children will be able to
go fishing in the future. The dams planned for the Mekong River scare us. We are
concerned that they will block the many fish migrations that occur at different
times of year.”
The Mekong River is one of Asia’s greatest rivers. Running close to 4,909 kilo-
meters from its origins in Tibet to its confluence in the Mekong Delta with the
South China Sea,1 it is the world’s twelfth longest river, traveling through six
countries: China, Burma (Myanmar), Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam.
Three large hydropower dams have already been built in the upper Mekong
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River in China,2 a fourth is well under construction; others are in advanced

stages of planning. But no dams have yet been constructed on the middle or
lower Mekong. Plans are being made, however, to develop up to twelve large
hydropower projects on the mainstream Mekong in Laos, Thailand, and Cam-
bodia.3 Of these, the planned Don Sahong Hydropower Project (hereafter, the
Don Sahong Dam or DSD) in southern Laos, the focus of this article, is causing
serious concerns.
The DSD is expected to be thirty to thirty-two meters high with a 240 MW in-
stalled generating capacity. The hydroelectric dam would be located on the Hou
Sahong Channel of the mainstream Mekong River, less than one kilometer
north of the Laos–Cambodia border, in the Khone Falls area of Khong District,
Champasak Province, southern Laos.4 (See maps below.) Mega First Corpora-
tion Berhad (MFCB), a publicly traded Malaysian firm that is hoping to develop
the DSD, has already funded a feasibility study and an environmental impact as-
sessment (EIA), which the Government of Laos (GoL) has approved.
The DSD, a single-use project, is focused solely on electricity sales. Exports
were originally expected to be going mainly to Thailand, but recently the focus
has shifted to Cambodia as the key market. The project has no irrigation or
flood-control components and no other significant benefits are envisaged. The
attraction of the DSD is that it would rely on the natural head associated with the
drop in altitude from the Khone Falls, the only large waterfall system in the
lower and middle mainstream Mekong River. The dam would need just a lim-
ited reservoir and would entail only a small amount of human resettlement.
Furthermore, proponents argue that the DSD will be less destructive than other
large dam projects on the mainstream Mekong, as it would be constructed on

1. Shaochuang et al. 2007.

2. Known as the Lancang River in China.
3. URL: www.savethemekong.org/issue_detail.php?sid=21 (accessed 26 February 2010).
4. Officially, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, or Lao PDR.

212 Critical Asian Studies 43:2 (2011)

 just one of many channels in the Khone Falls area, leaving the others unob-
5
structed. The project would also help alleviate regional shortages in energy,
potentially lowering the cost of electricity significantly in central Cambodia.
Yet the DSD is controversial.6 The main concerns relate to its potential im-
pacts on aquatic resources, especially wild-capture fisheries linked to long-
distance migrations.7 In September 2008, Chris Barlow, then manager of the
Mekong River Commission Fisheries Program, declared that dams on the Me-
kong mainstream would be “very deleterious for the fisheries based on
migratory species (the ‘white fishes’) in the Mekong.”8 Referring to the Khone
Falls and the DSD, Eric Baran and Blake Ratner have warned that “obstructing
fish migration at Khone Falls…would have social, ecological, and economic im-
plications basin-wide.”9
The Mekong River Basin is known to have the highest diversity of fish species
of any river basin in Asia.10 Mekong inland fisheries are also amongst the most
productive in the world, and their contribution to food security and nutrition is
significant.11 In many parts of the region—including above and below the
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Khone Falls—wild fish and other aquatic animals make up over 80 percent of
the animal protein the local populations consume.12 The significance of wild-
capture fisheries for livelihoods in the Mekong Region is thus drawing in-
creased attention.13
Given the importance of wild-capture fisheries in diets in rural Laos, their sig-
14
nificance has curiously not been appreciated in development circles,
especially among those concerned with health, food security, and rural liveli-
hood issues. For many international development workers, the term “fisheries”
means “aquaculture ponds.” Rarely are wild-capture fisheries given the atten-
tion they deserve, although there have been some notable exceptions recently.
A high proportion of wild fish taken from large rivers in the lower and middle
Mekong Basin, including in the Khone Falls area, are “highly migratory,” mean-
ing the fish migrate long distances during clearly defined migrations. An
estimated 78 percent of the fish caught in the Sesan River in Ratanakiri Province,

5. MFCB 2007.
6. Khamin and Middleton 2008.
7. Ibid.; Barlow et al. 2008; Dugan 2008 (Mainstream); WWF 2007; Baran and Ratner 2007;
“Cambodia Raps Laos Over Mekong Dams,” Bangkok Post, 15 November 2007. See also the
letter from scientists concerned for the sustainable development of the Mekong River to
government and international agencies responsible for managing and developing the Mekong
River (International Rivers 2007).
8. Barlow et al. 2008, 19. Halls and Kshatriya (2009, 8) describe “white fishes” as being “Migratory
species intolerant to low dissolved oxygen concentrations and which typically inhabit lotic
(flowing water) environments.” This includes many of the main migratory species in the main-
stream Mekong River.
9. Baran and Ratner 2007, 2.
10. Estimates of fish species in the Mekong River Basin range between 785 and 1,700 (Coates et al.
2003; Bao et al. 2001; AMRC 2008). Baird (2001) has confirmed that at least 205 species of fish
are found near the Khone Falls.
11. Hortle 2007; Baran et al. 2007.
12. Hortle 2007; Thuan and Chambers 2006; Baird et al. 1998.
13. See, for example, Hortle 2007.
14. Bush 2004; Baird and Shoemaker 2008.
Baird / Don Sahong Dam 213
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Fig. 1. Proposed location of the Don Sahong Dam and study sites between the
Khone Falls and Vientiane Municipality. (Courtesy: Ian G. Baird)

214 Critical Asian Studies 43:2 (2011)

 15
northeastern Cambodia, for instance, migrate from the Mekong River. In his
analysis of Mekong mainstream fish species Baran estimates that 87 percent are
migratory.16 Thus, if the DSD impedes fish migrations, the negative impacts to
fish catches and consumption in the Khone Falls would be significant.
The EIA for the DSD acknowledges the importance of the Hou Sahong Chan-
nel for fish migrations, but the environmental assessment claims that the
project’s impact on migratory fish would not be significant because negative ef-
fects could be mitigated.17 My research leads me to conclude that such effects
cannot be easily mitigated. Crucially, the EIA did not address the regional fisher-
ies implications of the DSD; the report concentrated on local impacts only.
Deeper consideration of the regional affects of the DSD is required. Scaling up
the discussion, this article assesses the possible impacts of the DSD on migra-
tory fish stocks and considers the implications of these effects on food security,
nutrition, and poverty alleviation in Laos and in the region.

The Mekong River Basin and Fish Migrations

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The Mekong River Basin is unique globally in that the annual variations between
low-water and high-water volumes in the mainstream river are greater than for
any other large river in the world, with peak rainy season water levels—in Au-
gust and September in Laos—being approximately thirty times more than dry-
season water levels in March and April.18 This is because most of the basin is lo-
cated in a region that is heavily influenced by a monsoon climate, including
extreme dry and rainy seasons. The low water levels at the height of the dry sea-
son are the main reason why deep-water pools are important dry season
habitats in the Mekong Basin, especially for large brood stock.19 These hydrolog-
ical conditions have contributed to the creation of a variety of aquatic habitats
and a high degree of species diversity.20
Considering the changing ecological conditions in the Mekong Basin during
the year, it would be rare to find a species of fish or other aquatic animal able to
adapt to the shifting conditions of a single location in the course of a year, let
alone over a life cycle. Thus, one type of fish might inhabit the mainstream Me-
kong River when water volumes and currents are low, but then move to a
different location once the water rises and currents become strong. The diverse
hydrological conditions of the Mekong account for the mobility of many species
of fish in the Mekong Basin: studies show that a large number of fish species mi-
grate hundreds or thousands of kilometers annually.21

15. Baird 2009; Baird and Meach 2005. See also Baird 2001; Baird et al. 1998.
16. Baran 2006.
17. MFCB 2007.
18. Cunningham 1998.
19. Baird 2006 (Probarbus); Baran et al. 2005; Baird and Flaherty 2005.
20. Baird 2007.
21. Hogan et al. 2007; Poulsen et al. 2004; Baird and Flaherty 2004; Baird et al. 2003. The MRC has
also recorded large P. krempfi in villager fish catch data from Khammouane, Bolikhamxay and
Vientiane (Laos) in recent years, with the species being especially abundant between June and
October (MRC personal communication, June 2009).
Baird / Don Sahong Dam 215
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Fig. 2. The various channels in the Khone Falls area, Khong District, Champasak Province,
southern Laos, including the Hou Sahong Channel. While a few channels are open for fish
migrations seasonally, only one channel in the Khone Falls area allows for year-round mi-
gration: the Hou Sahong Channel. (Courtesy: Ian G. Baird)

Keeping fish migration routes open is crucial. While generally the case world-
wide, this principle is especially important for the Mekong because the
particular hydrological conditions there contribute to more migratory behavior
amongst fish compared to tropical and subtropical river basins elsewhere.

The Khone Falls and the Hou Sahong Channel

The Khone Falls is the only large complex of waterfalls and rapids along the
lower mainstream Mekong River. Following a geological fault line for nine kilo-
meters,22 the Falls are located approximately 760 km from the South China Sea
in Vietnam. They consist of a large number of various sized channels separated
by large and small islands and natural rock structures. Seasonally inundated
vegetation in the area also contributes to a complex ecological system, one rich
in aquatic resources.23 Some of the channels in the Khone Falls area have high
waterfalls that make upriver fish movements impossible. In other cases, under
particular conditions during the year, fish migrate past small waterfalls and rap-
ids. While a few channels are open for fish migrations seasonally, only one
channel in the Khone Falls area allows for year-round migration: the Hou
Sahong Channel24 (see maps above).
The seven-kilometer-long Hou Sahong Channel lies between Sahong Island
(Don Sahong) and Sadam Island (Don Sadam). Unlike most other channels in

22. Bramati and Carulli 2001.

23. Daconto, ed. 2001.
24. Roberts and Baird 1995.
216 Critical Asian Studies 43:2 (2011)
 25
the area, no waterfalls are located along its length. Unlike the Hou Sadam
Channel, which is located east of Sadam Island and is also without any waterfalls
along its course, the Hou Sahong Channel is large enough to support the migra-
tions of big groups of large and small fish year-round. By contrast, only a small
number of fish pass through the Hou Sadam each dry season. Furthermore, lo-
cals often block the Hou Sahong channel with fish traps in the dry season and at
the beginning of the rainy season.26
The Hou Sahong is unique in the Khong Falls, and local inhabitants and sci-
entists who have studied fish in the area widely believe that a large proportion
of the fish that migrate up the Mekong River from Cambodia to Laos pass
through this channel.27 Locals declare that the Hou Sahong Channel is by far the
most significant migratory fish passage year-round. Other evidence supports
the villagers’ claim.28

Fish Migrations in the Khone Falls Area

The following is a summary of some of the main fish migrations that occur in the
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Khone Falls area:

December to February: Species of medium-sized cyprinid carps migrate from
the Sekong, Sesan, and Srepok rivers in northeastern Cambodia and southern
Laos to the Mekong River in Stung Treng Province, Cambodia, and then upriver
to Laos.29 All migrate past the Khone Falls,30 most via the Hou Sahong. Most
travel up the Mekong River at least as far as the border between Laos and Thai-
land.31
January to March: Large schools of small cyprinid fishes (minnows), trig-
gered by changes in lunar phases and hydrological conditions, migrate from the
Tonle Sap Lake in Cambodia to Laos during this season. At least thirty-two fish
species participate in these long-distance migrations. The most abundant are
the minnows Henicorhynchus lobatus, Henicorhynchus siamensis, and Para-
laubuca typus, along with loaches such as Botia modesta (see appendix 1).32
Genetic studies of Henicorhynchus lobatus and H. siamensis in the Mekong
River show no differences between fish sampled near Nong Khai, Thailand, and
those from Chau Doc, in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, except for a population of H.

25. Small rapids such as those at Tat Louang, Tat Tieu, and Tat Pho exist, but none acts as a signifi-
cant barrier to fish movements. See Baird et al. 2001; Roberts and Baird 1995.
26. Roberts and Baird 1995.
27. Baird 1996; Roberts and Baird 1995; Singhanouvong et al. 1996 (Wet).
28. Baird 1996 documents the crucial importance of the Hou Sahong channel for fish species mi-
grating upstream in the dry season.
29. The main highly migratory species involved are Scaphognathops bandanensis, Mekongina
erythrospila, Hypsibarbus malcolmi/spp., Labeo pierrei, Bangana behri, Gyrinocheilus
pennocki, and Cirrhinus molitorella (Swift 2006; Baird and Meach 2005; Baird and Flaherty
2004; Poulsen et al. 2004; Baird 1995; Roberts and Warren 1994).
30. Baird and Flaherty 2004.
31. Warren et al. 1998; Singhanouvong et al. 1996 (Dry).
32. Baird and Shoemaker 2008; Baran et al. 2005; Poulsen et al. 2004; Baird et al. 2003; Poulsen
and Valbo-Jørgensen 2000; Roberts and Baird 1995. One of the species is the IUCN-listed “en-
dangered” species Tenualosa thibaudeaui (Poulsen et al. 2004), a species previously
abundant in the Khone Falls area but now considerably rarer (Roberts 1993).

Baird / Don Sahong Dam 217

 33
lobatus near Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand. These findings support the hypoth-
esis that these fish migrate long distances up and down the mainstream Mekong
34
River. Most of the fish in this group pass the Khone Falls by traveling up the
Hou Sahong Channel.
April: When water levels are lowest, schools of the large carp Cirrhinus
microlepis migrate from Cambodia to Laos, relying almost exclusively on the
Hou Sahong to pass the Falls. A specialized trap fishery for these highly migra-
tory fish exists.35 The Cirrhinus microlepis caught at the Khone Falls probably
36
originate from the Tonle Sap Lake.
April to May: Shortly after the above-named migrations, large schools of
small migratory Pangasius macronema catfish migrate up the Mekong River
from Cambodia to Laos. These rely on the Hou Sahong to navigate the Khone
Falls, and some large fisheries for the species are centered in the channel, in-
cluding an important communal fishery managed by Hang Sadam Village.37
May to June: Various species of Pangasiidae catfish migrate up the Mekong
River from Cambodia to Laos via the Khone Falls at the beginning of the rainy
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season.38 Pangasius krempfi, which some call the “Mekong salmon,”39 migrate
40
from as far away as the estuary of the Mekong Delta in southern Vietnam. Most
rely on the Hou Sahong.
July to September: At the height of the rainy season the famous and endan-
gered Mekong Giant Catfish (Pangasianodon gigas), which reaches over 300 kg
in weight, migrates past the Khone Falls from Cambodia, traveling up the Hou
Sahong.41 Some of these fish have been accidentally caught in traps set in the
42
Hou Sahong. Dams along the mainstream Mekong seriously threaten this spe-
cies, according to Roger Mollot from the nongovernmental conservation
organization WWF.43
October to January: The “endangered” International Union for Conserva-
tion of Nature (IUCN)–categorized carps, Probarbus jullieni and Probarbus

33. Hurwood et al. 2006.

34. See Baird et al. 2003.
35. Roberts and Baird 1995.
36. Baird et al. 1999; Poulsen et al. 2004.
37. See Baird et al. 2001.
38. These include Pangasius conchophilus, Pangasius larnaudii, Pangasius bocourti,
Pangasianodon hyphophthalmus and Pangasius krempfi (Baird et al. 2004; Singhanouvong
et al. 1996 (Wet-Season); Roberts and Baird 1995; Roberts 1993).
39. Roberts and Baird 1995.
40. Hogan et al. 2007.
41. Hogan et al. 2001; Poulsen et al. 2004. Genetic studies suggest that all the Pangasianodon
gigas are part of a single population. See Lorenzen et al. 2006.
42. In 2007, for example, at least three large fish were caught in the Hou Sahong Channel (Mollot
et al. 2007; personal communication, May 2010; Chaloun Souriyavong, Khong District Live-
stock and Fisheries Office). One fish weighing over 100 kg was photographed by a Thai
photographer, Suthep Krisnavarin. Another giant catfish was also caught in the Hou Sahong
Channel in October 2009.
43. Mollot 2008.
44. Probarbus jullieni is a CITES Appendix 1 species (Baird 2006 [Probarbus]; Poulsen et al.
2004).

218 Critical Asian Studies 43:2 (2011)

 labeamajor, both of which reach up to seventy kilograms in weight, spawn in the
44
Khone Falls area near the proposed site of the DSD. Hydrological changes di-
rectly downstream from the DSD would negatively impact their spawning
patterns.

Research Methodology
In order to fill gaps in earlier research associated with the DSD, I conducted
original fieldwork in February 2009 along the Mekong River in the Khone Falls
area as well as at five locations upstream from the Khone Falls and adjacent to
the mainstream Mekong River in Laos (see fig. 1 above):
1. Houay Man Pa Village, Champasak District, Champasak Province
2. Keng Kabao Village, Xayboury District, Savannakhet Province
3. Houay Nang Ly Village, Tha Khek District, Khammouane Province
4. Hatxaikhoun Village, Paksan District, Bolikhamxay Province
5. Khok Ngin Village, Sisatanak District, Vientiane Municipality
In each village, I interviewed an experienced fisher or group of fishers about
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Mekong fish and fisheries.45 In all cases at least one of those interviewed was an
46
active fifty- to sixty-year-old male fisher with long experience in the village.
Fish species were identified using multiple means, including (1) a set of color
photographs to help identify fish; (2) Lao language names for fish in the Me-
kong River; and (3) information about the behaviors of particular species. The
way I conducted interviews made it possible to fairly accurately assess species
presence and absence near each village.
Survey findings were compared with raw fish catch data collected through
the Fisheries Program of the Mekong River Commission, in order to provide ad-
ditional evidence regarding presence and absence of particular species in fish
catches upstream of the Khone Falls.
The study yielded the results presented below.

The Extent of Upstream Fish Migrations

Appendix 2 lists the fish species believed to migrate upriver from below the
Khone Falls to the parts of the Mekong River where fishers were interviewed. All
species are highly migratory and support economically important fisheries in
the Falls area and in other parts of the Mekong Basin, as evidence given above
shows. More detailed research would be required to corroborate responses
from the fishers, but preliminary findings show that many fish populations mi-
grate hundreds of kilometers past the Khone Falls via the Hou Sahong. Some
species support economically significant fisheries at least as far as Vientiane,
Laos.47

45. Interviews were conducted in Lao.

46. The method used for interviewing fishers about the occurrence of particular species of fish fol-
lowed the methodology outlined in Baird 2006 (Conducting).
47. See also Poulsen and Valbo-Jørgensen 2000.

Baird / Don Sahong Dam 219

 The first group of migratory fishes, and possibly the most important one
from a villager livelihoods’ perspective, includes many carps and loaches (espe-
cially Henicorhynchus spp., Paralaubuca, and Botia spp.). These migrate from
the Tonle Sap Lake in Cambodia (or areas nearby) and are caught in large num-
bers in the Khone Falls area.48 Some species of medium-sized carps (especially
Mekongina erythrospila and Scaphognathops bandanensis) migrate from the
Sekong, Srepok, and Sesan river systems in northeastern Cambodia to southern
Laos and past the Khone Falls49 and move as far upriver as south of Vientiane.
(Some fish found upstream originate from local streams.)
Cirrhinus microlepis carps are now much rarer than they once were above
the Khone Falls, but they are still caught, at least up to Bolikhamxay Province
and probably farther. They may migrate from the Tonle Sap River in Cambodia.50
In addition, even though populations have been depleted, this species has dem-
onstrated its ability to rebound from overfishing when the conditions are right.
For example, in 1976, when fishing was heavily restricted in Cambodia due to
the draconian policies of the Khmer Rouge, fishers in southern Laos caught ex-
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ceptionally large numbers of this species.51

The large catfish Pangasius krempfi migrates far up the Mekong River to
spawn each rainy season. Villagers report that it reaches as far as Nan District,
Luang Prabang Province.52 The Mekong River Commission (MRC) has also re-
corded the species in fish catches in Khammouane, Bolikhamxay, Vientiane, and
Bokeo.53 This fish species is anadromous because it spawns in the Mekong River
but spends much of its early life in the Mekong estuary and South China Sea.54
The small catfish Pangasius macronema migrates from Cambodia to above
55
the Khone Falls. Interviews with fishers along the Mekong River indicate that
this catfish also moves at least as far upstream as Vientiane.
The catfish Pangasius conchophilus is migratory, and while the ones caught
near Vientiane may not migrate from south of the Khone Falls, this species does
migrate in large quantities from below to above the Khone Falls.56
Poulsen et al. reported that Pangasius larnaudii below the Khone Falls con-
57
stituted a single population, and since we know that fish of this species migrate
upstream past the Khone Falls,58 those upriver can be confidently considered to
be part of the same population.
The Anguilla eel, Anguilla marmorata, is not a common species, but it has
been found as far up the Mekong River as Luang Prabang;59 during this study it

48. Baird et al. 2003.

49. Baird and Flaherty 2004; Baird 2009.
50. Baird et al. 2003; Roberts and Baird 1995.
51. Roberts 1993.
52. Personal communications, villagers living along the Mekong River in Nan District, Luang
Prabang Province, 2001.
53. Personal communication, MRC, June 2009.
54. Hogan et al. 2007; Roberts and Baird 1995.
55. Baird et al. 2001.
56. Baird et al. 2004.
57. Poulsen et al. 2004.
58. Baird et al. 2004.
59. Interviews with villages in Nan District, Luang Prabang Province, 2001.
220 Critical Asian Studies 43:2 (2011)
 was also reported to be in Bolikhamxay Province. It spends most of its life in
freshwater but migrates downriver to spawn in the South China Sea.
Some large giant freshwater shrimp (Macrobrachium rosenbergi) migrate
upriver from the Mekong Delta to well above the Khone Falls60 and are consid-
ered to be a transboundary species between Cambodia and Vietnam
downstream.61

Importance of Upstream Fish Migrations

The schools of fish that migrate past the Khone Falls make up the largest propor-
tion of fish caught by people living in the Siphandone Wetlands area, almost all
of which is located upstream from the Falls. A 1998 survey of fisheries activities
in Khong District, Champasak Province, determined that Henicorhynchus loba-
tus and other small cyprinids that migrate upstream past the Khone Falls from
the Tonle Sap Lake in Cambodia make up the majority of fish caught by people
in the district. These fish are crucial for the livelihoods of over 100,000 people
in the district.62
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Interviews with fishers upriver from the Khone Falls confirm that many other
migratory species move from below to above the Khone Falls and support fish-
eries in Laos and Thailand.63 All the fish species mentioned above, with the
exception of the Anguilla eel and giant inland shrimp, support economically im-
portant fisheries, both upstream and downstream of the Khone Falls. The
majority of fish caught above the Falls are highly migratory, originating from be-
low the Falls. Farther up the Mekong River, most of the fish species that pass
through the Khone Falls make up a significant part of catches, especially at cer-
tain times of the year. In Champasak District, for example, interviews indicate
that all the main species found in Khone Falls migrations remain abundant. Far-
ther upriver, in Savannakhet, Khammouane, Bolikhamxay, and Vientiane
Municipality, these migratory fish constitute significant portions of catches.
Many fish that migrate up the Khone Falls also enter larger Mekong tributaries
such as the Mun River in Thailand and the Xedon and Xebanghieng Rivers in
Laos. The importance of migratory fish decreases relative to nonmigratory spe-
cies the farther one gets from the Khone Falls.
Many fish that pass through the Khone Falls during long-distance migrations
sustain vital wild-capture fisheries downriver. The most obvious example is
Henicorhynchus lobatus, a small minnow that is the most abundant species in
Cambodia by catch weight, making up approximately 21 percent of the whole
inland fish catch in Cambodia.64 In the bagnet fishery in the Tonle Sap River, it

60. Baird 2001.

61. Coates 2001. Other fish species migrate past the Khone Falls using the Hou Sahong Channel,
such as the predatory large species Belodontichthys truncatus, Aaptosyax grypus, Hemi-
bagrus nemurus, and others such as the carp Cosmocheilus harmandi. How far upstream they
migrate is unclear. MRC fish catch data have recorded this catadromous species from the
Vientiane area (personal communication, MRC, June 2009).
62. Baird et al. 1998.
63. Coates 2001; Poulsen and Valbo-Jørgensen 2000; Warren et al. 1998; Singhanouvong et al.
1996 (Dry) and 1996 (Wet); Hill and Hill 1994.
64. Baran 2005; Van Zalinge et al. 2000.
Baird / Don Sahong Dam 221
Downloaded By: [Baird, Ian G.] At: 12:37 1 June 2011

Young men wait to toss their castnets to catch medium-sized highly migratory carps mov-
ing up the Hou Sahong Channel, Houa Sadam Village, Khong District, Champasak Prov-
ince, southern Laos (May 2010). (Courtesy: Ian G. Baird)

65
constitutes 68 percent of the catch (along with Henicorhynchus siamensis)
and accounts for 45 percent of the total catch for the fence-filter trap fishery, one
66
of the most important fisheries in the Khone Falls area. Poulsen et al., of the
MRC Fisheries Program, state that H. lobatus and H. siamensis are probably the
most abundant in fisheries of the lower Mekong basin. For example, in the dai
fisheries of the Tonle Sap River, they currently comprise about 50 percent of the
catch from November to February (MRC monitoring data). Throughout their
migration routes they are caught in huge numbers during their peak migration
period between October and February. They thus play a crucial role for the liveli-
hoods of local communities and are the foundation for a number of processing
activities such as drying and smoking and the production of fish sauce (Prahoc
in Khmer or Padek in Lao), fish paste, and animal feed.67
68
Species of medium-sized carps are also well known for being abundant in
northeastern Cambodia and southern Laos.69 For example, just below the
Khone Falls Scaphognathops bandanensis is the most important species in a
4–9 cm meshed set nylon gillnet fishery, making up 29 percent of the catch. The
second most abundant is the medium-sized carp, Mekongina erythrospila (27

65. Lieng et al. 1995.

66. Baird et al. 2003. Paralaubuca typus is the next most abundant at 33 percent, and Henicor-
hynchus siamensis is third at 5 percent.
67. Poulsen et al. 2004, 45.
68. Scaphognathops bandanensis, Hypsibarbus malcolmi, Mekongina erythrospila, Gyrino-
cheilus pennocki, Bangana behri, and Labeo pierrei.
69. Baird and Flaherty 2004; Warren et al. 1998; Roberts and Warren 1994.
222 Critical Asian Studies 43:2 (2011)
 70
percent). Thus, if the DSD negatively impacts these species, important fisher-
ies would be devastated.
Pangasius krempfi catfish support an economically important fishery in the
71
Khone Falls area, and others upstream and downstream, including in the Me-
kong Delta.72 They make up 73 percent of the catch by weight for the 12–16 cm
73
meshed multi-filament set gillnet fishery just below the Khone Falls. The spe-
74
cies also makes up 5 percent of the wing-trap fishery at the Khone Falls.
Other pangasid catfishes are important for many fisheries, with Pangasius
conchophilus making up over 40 percent of the catch of the large wing-trap fish-
ery in the Khone Falls, and other migratory species constituting large portions
of the catch.75

Mitigating the Impacts of the Don Sahong Dam

The EIA for the DSD recognizes that the Hou Sahong Channel is the most impor-
tant channel in the Khone Falls area for fish passage, especially for dry-season
upstream migrations.76 However, the EIA report assumes that the impacts of
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blocking the channel can be mitigated through expanding the Hou Sadam and
Hou Xang Pheuak channels found on either side of the Hou Sahong. Diverting
additional water into the Hou Sadam so as to attract more fish into the channel
has also been proposed. The EIA contends that the use of fish passes (also com-
monly referred to as fish ladders) is a possibility for the Hou Xang Pheuak and
Khone Lan Rapid.77
I believe that the conditions of the Hou Sahong Channel, with its continuous
flow of water and great width, could never be duplicated through implement-
ing the proposed mitigation measures. The track record of fish passes in the
Mekong River and globally is very poor.78 Baran et al. have concluded that “there
are no examples of fish passes that work in the Mekong Basin. This is mainly due
to ecological factors and the intensity of migrations which fish passes cannot ac-
commodate.”79
Mitigating all or even most of the negative impacts caused by the DSD will not
be easy, especially considering that a large volume of water would be diverted
from the Hou Phapheng Channel into the Hou Sahong Channel, thus reducing
water levels downstream along the Hou Phapheng. Not enough is known about
the migratory requirements of the various fish species to predict the results of
mitigation measures, but prospects for mitigating serious impacts appear to be

70. Baird and Flaherty 2004.

71. Hogan et al. 2007.
72. Roberts and Baird 1995.
73. Hogan et al. 2007.
74. Baird et al. 2004.
75. This includes Henicorhynchus lobatus (13 percent), Scaphognathops bandanensis (7 per-
cent), Pangasius bocourti (4 percent), and Pangasius larnaudii (3 percent) (Baird et al. 2004;
Roberts and Baird 1995; Baird et al. 2001; 2004; Baran et al. 2005).
76. MFCB 2007.
77. Ibid.
78. Bernacsek 2000; Thorncraft et al. 2006.
79. Baran et al. 2007, 24.
Baird / Don Sahong Dam 223
 few. For example, Hou Sadam is many kilometers long, and is narrow through-
out its length, making widening it significantly uneconomical.

Numbers of People Expected to be Impacted Upstream

Research data are inadequate to know with precision how many people would
be affected by the loss of migratory fish upstream from the DSD, but the number
would be significant.80 All of the villages located adjacent to or nearby the main-
stream Mekong River from the Khone Falls up to above Vientiane would be
impacted, as well as people living away from the river but who travel to the Me-
kong to fish or catch migratory fish that travel up tributaries of the Mekong.
Hundreds of villages located along the Mekong River in Thailand between Ubon
Ratchathani and Chiang Rai provinces would also be negatively impacted due to
fish losses.

Impacts on Downstream Fisheries

The adage “What comes up must come down” is relevant to the Mekong River
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Basin. If fish are unable to migrate above the Khone Falls, they will not be able to
feed, reproduce, or complete their life cycles. The DSD might not significantly
impact downstream migrations of mature fish, since the Hou Sahong is but one
of many possible channels capable of facilitating downstream movements. In
addition, areas downstream from the dam would not face the types of major hy-
drological impacts felt on other rivers, such as the Sesan River in northeastern
Cambodia,81 although some hydrological changes are likely. Some fish migrat-
ing downstream—especially large fish—would, however, be killed or seriously
injured trying to pass through the dam’s turbines.82
The DSD would also negatively affect drifting fish larvae during the height of
the rainy season. Some species, such as Pangasius krempfi, migrate far up the
Mekong River to spawn. The young larvae are then washed down the Mekong
River through the Khone Falls, eventually reaching the Mekong Delta.83 If these
larvae entered a slow-flowing reservoir, or passed through the DSD’s turbines,
there would be impacts, the significance of which is hard to know without data
on flow pattern changes.
The DSD would, however, negatively impact fish migrating upstream and
thus lead to smaller fish populations above the Khone Falls, and ultimately
fewer fish to migrate downstream. Thus, fish and fisheries located in neighbor-
ing downstream countries, such as Cambodia and Vietnam, would be affected.
Studies have identified the types of migratory fish that are likely to be im-
pacted. Fisheries in the O Talat, a large and long perennial stream that flows into
the Mekong River just a few kilometers downstream from the Khone Falls, in
Thalaboriwath District, Stung Treng Province, northeastern Cambodia, would

80. The number of people impacted could reach the millions, once all those in Laos and Thailand
are considered.
81. See Baird 2009; Wyatt and Baird 2007; Baird and Meach 2005.
82. Halls and Kshatriya 2009.
83. Hogan et al. 2007; Bao et al. 2001.
224 Critical Asian Studies 43:2 (2011)
 be the closest fisheries impacted in Cambodia. At the end of each rainy season
large quantities of fish migrate from the stream into the mainstream Mekong.
Many are caught using traps and bagnets,84 but some migrate up the Mekong
River past the Khone Falls via the Hou Sahong. If these fish could not ascend the
Khone Falls, the effective catchment area of the fishery would be reduced,
affecting carps such as Scaphognathops bandanensis and Hypsibarbus
malcolmi, which support very important fisheries in northeastern Cambodia
and southern Laos.85
Other downstream fisheries in the Sekong, Sesan, and Srepok rivers in north-
eastern Cambodia and southern Laos would be negatively impacted if the
medium-sized carps that migrate between the Mekong River above the Khone
Falls and these rivers were no longer able to move past the Khone Falls via Hou
Sahong.86 Some of the most abundant fish migrate in the dry season from be-
tween the Tonle Sap Lake in Cambodia and the Mekong River above the Khone
Falls, so the impacts for Tonle Sap fisheries would be serious. The overall impact
of habitat loss upstream from the Khone Falls for these species is uncertain, but
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the loss of even a small number of fish upriver would adversely affect brood
stock populations downstream. The severity of the impact will not be known
until after the DSD is constructed, but by then it will be too late to change
course. The Tonle Sap small carp fishery is the mainstay of a large portion of the
population of Central Cambodia,87 and any significant impacts to the biological
potential of Tonle Sap fisheries would be socially and economically devastating
to rural Cambodia.
Other long distance migratory fish species would be impacted, especially the
large catfish Pangasius krempfi, which could become extinct if prevented from
migrating up past the Khone Falls. The DSD could also indirectly decimate estu-
ary and oceanic fisheries for Pangasius krempfi in Vietnam.
Hydrological changes downstream from the DSD would have a negative im-
pact on fish migrations, as fish rely on particular “hydrological triggers” to start
them on their migrations. They would become confused due to interruptions
during crucial parts of their life cycles.88
If the DSD impacted all the fish migrations near the Khone Falls, hundreds of
villages would be affected downstream from the Khone Falls, including in the
mainstream Mekong River down to the Delta, and far into various tributaries,
because fish that used to migrate past these communities, and are important for
villager livelihoods, would be lost. Although calculating exact numbers is diffi-
cult, millions of people would be impacted to one degree or another.

84. See Baird and Flaherty 2004.

85. Ibid.; Warren et al. 1998.
86. The migration patterns of this group of fish below the Khone Falls have been well documented
by Baird and Flaherty (2004), while the migrations above the Khone Falls have been studied by
Warren et al. (1998).
87. Hortle 2007.
88. Baran 2006; Baran et al. 2005; Hogan et al. 2007.
Baird / Don Sahong Dam 225
 Cumulative Impacts on Fish and Fisheries
We know that the DSD would disrupt the migrations of some fish species mov-
ing from Cambodia to Laos. However, the species that would be directly
impacted interact with other species and the environment, so it can be expected
that various additional species would be indirectly impacted due to the loss of
migratory species.89
Many fish species above the Khone Falls that are crucial for the overall ecol-
ogy of the Mekong Basin would be lost. Henicorhynchus lobatus is a good
example of a Mekong keystone species that is critical for food security through-
out the Lower Mekong River Basin and is prey for various predatory fishes,
including migratory ones.90 Below the Khone Falls, H. lobatus is also an impor-
tant part of the diet of Irrawaddy dolphins (Orcaella brevirostris) in the dry
season.91
The loss of these migratory species would lead to dramatic negative changes
in whole aquatic communities, both upstream and downstream of the Khone
Falls. However, the cumulative and synergistic impacts will not be known until
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the dam is built.

Fisheries Impacts, Nutrition, Food Security, and Poverty

Fisheries experts in the MRC and WorldFish have attempted to quantify the neg-
ative effects the DSD and other mainstream Mekong dams could have on
migratory fish. These estimates reach more than US$200 million per year.92 Esti-
mating the number of fish that would be lost is difficult because no one knows
how many fish pass through the Hou Sahong during all seasons. The number of
fish caught in the Khone Falls area, including the Hou Sahong Channel, can be
determined, but these data would only be of limited use as they would not tell
us the number that have not been caught, that is, those that successfully move
upriver through the channel.
The implications of migratory fish losses for food security, human nutrition,
and poverty alleviation efforts in the Mekong Region are all the more important
due to the large ecological footprint of the proposed dam, as the implications of
the project would not only be localized but would be national and regional.
Kent Hortle from the MRC’s Fisheries Program has estimated that Cambodi-
ans consume 32.3 kg of inland fish per capita/year, as well as another 4.5 kg of
other aquatic animals, compared to 24.5 kg of inland fish consumption per ca-
pita/year in Laos. The estimated consumption of fish and other aquatic animals

89. See Baran and Jutagate 2008.

90. Lieng et al. 1995; Baird et al. 1998; 2003; Poulsen et al. 2004; These include the catfishes
Hemibagrus wyckioides, Hemibagrus nemurus, Micronema spp., Wallago spp., Pangasia-
nodon sanitwongsei, and Bagarius yarelli, which feed heavily on grazing algae eaters during
the low-water dry season, and would be negatively impacted if migratory H. lobatus were lost
from below the Khone Falls.
91. Baird and Mounsouphom 1997; Baird and Beasley 2005.
92. Neither of the reports with these estimates have been publicly released, and so it is not possi-
ble to provide statistics here.
226 Critical Asian Studies 43:2 (2011)
 in the Mekong River Basin is believed to be 2.6 million tons annually, making the
93
region the most productive globally for inland fish. Dugan has similarly re-
ported that fish production in the Mekong Basin is 3 million tons per year, of
which 2.4 million, or 80 percent, are wild caught.94
The DSD would cause serious human nutritional problems throughout the
Mekong Region, as wild-caught fish are the most important source of animal
protein for people living along large rivers and streams in the basin.95 In addi-
tion, decreasing availability of fish in the marketplace would lead to higher
prices, reducing fish consumption, especially by poorer consumers unable to
afford fish.
Already, in Stung Treng Province, northeastern Cambodia, the provincial
government’s Department of Planning reported in 2003 that 45 percent of chil-
dren under five are underweight.96 Since people are already not consuming
enough animal protein, a further reduction of fish without replacement protein
would result in more nutritional deficiencies.
This is particularly troubling considering that the percentage of children clas-
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sified as acutely malnourished in Cambodia is rising. The percentage fell by half

between 2000 and 2005, but it increased from 8.4 percent in 2005 to 8.9 per-
cent in 2008, representing a considerable setback.97 Part of this decline may be
due to the decreased availability of easy-to-access and cheap fish. Thus, losing
large quantities of wild-caught fish because of the DSD would be devastating.
In Laos, the situation is even more worrying. Research by the World Food Pro-
gram found that Laos’s rural population is experiencing serious nutritional
problems, with 50 percent of children being chronically malnourished. Cru-
cially, development achievements in Laos have not translated into improved
nutrition, with nutrition levels being about the same as they were a decade
ago.98 People living near large rivers in the southern Lao province of Attapeu, for
99
example, consume insufficient amounts of fats and animal protein, and this
would be an even greater problem in parts of the Mekong Basin less endowed
with aquatic resources.
Of particular relevance for the DSD, the diets of Lao people lack meat, fish,
and edible oils,100 the food types that are most threatened by the Mekong dams.
Jutta Krahn writes, “Managed access to wild meat and aquatic resources (animal
protein) is critical for ensuring food security for vulnerable groups. Wild meat
and aquatic resources, especially wild fish, is the biggest source of animal pro-
tein in rural Lao PDR.”101

93. Hortle 2007.

94. Dugan 2008 (Examining).
95. Hortle 2007.
96. Department of Planning 2003.
97. Corey-Boulet 2008.
98. Krahn 2007.
99. Meusch et al. 2003.
100. Krahn 2007.
101. Krahn 2007, 10.
Baird / Don Sahong Dam 227
 Losing large quantities of fish protein would devastate the nutritional stan-
dards of rural populations in parts of Thailand and Vietnam as well. It would be
of national and regional significance if even 10 percent of the fish protein were
taken from the millions of people living above and below the proposed site of
the DSD. Many rural people are presently close to being malnourished, or are
marginally undernourished. The loss of a few kilograms of protein per capita
annually may not appear to be much, but such losses would substantially in-
crease the region’s malnourished population. People who are undernourished
do poorer in school and are less capable of social and economic improvement.
The loss of migratory fish would badly affect efforts to meet the United Na-
tions Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which are closely linked to
human wellness and good health. The 2008 Second Millennium Development
Goals Progress Report for Laos indicated that, while advances have been made
in health care in recent years, little reduction in child malnutrition has been re-
corded since 1990. The report noted that despite considerable efforts, 38
percent of children under the age of five are underweight and 41 percent suffer
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102
from chronic malnutrition.
The DSD would reduce the nutritional status for large numbers of families in
various parts of the Mekong River Basin, especially parts of Laos, Cambodia, and
Thailand. Those living closer to the dam—both upriver and downriver from the
project—would be impacted most. However, impacts would continue for well
over a thousand kilometers upstream and downstream. Due to the DSD’s wide
and deep footprint, it can be expected that the DSD would ultimately make it
much more difficult for governments in the region, especially those of Laos and
Cambodia, to reach their poverty alleviation objectives.103

Conclusions
The most serious impact of the DSD would be on fish that migrate long dis-
tances past the Khone Falls via the Hou Sahong Channel. Some impacts could
be mitigated, but not all of them, even under the best of circumstances. Accu-
rately predicting most impacts is presently impossible, as the interactions
between large numbers of species and multiple and complex environments
make fully understanding systems extremely difficult. And this makes the pros-
pects for mitigating impacts uncertain and risky.
At least some of the fish stocks that migrate upriver past the Khone Falls reach
as far as Vientiane and adjacent parts of Thailand, and even northern Laos, and
these populations also migrate downstream past the Khone Falls, extending as
far as the Tonle Sap Lake in Cambodia and the Mekong Delta in Vietnam. There-
fore, the fisheries impact area of the DSD could cover large parts of Laos and
Cambodia, as well as Thailand and Vietnam. The aquatic communities would

102. “Laos Achieves Sixth Development Millennium Development Goal, Makes Progress on Oth-
ers.” Vientiane Times, 25 April 2009.
103. In recent years governments in the region, international aid agencies, and multilateral banks
have all made poverty alleviation an explicit goal.

228 Critical Asian Studies 43:2 (2011)

 People living along the Mekong
River in southern Laos are highly
dependent on wild caught fish
from the mainstream Mekong River.
This photo was taken in Hang
Sadam Village, Khong District,
Champasak Province, southern
Laos, which is directly adjacent to
the Hou Sahong Channel (May
2010). (Courtesy: Ian G. Baird)
Downloaded By: [Baird, Ian G.] At: 12:37 1 June 2011

change dramatically, leading to synergistic and cumulative impacts, and still

wider reductions in fish stocks, potentially driving some species to extinction.
Even lesser impacts to migratory fish populations would have a devastating
impact on humans, especially those living along the Mekong River and its large
and small tributaries. Fish are important sources of protein for much of the pop-
ulation of the Mekong River Basin, especially the poor, and are crucial for
maintaining good nutrition and health. Therefore, the loss of large quantities of
fish due to the DSD would have devastating development results for Laos, Cam-
bodia, Thailand, and Vietnam, increasing levels of malnutrition and seriously
jeopardizing national and international efforts to alleviate poverty.
The stakes are high, and it is therefore crucial that any decision to move for-
ward with the DSD should only be made after careful consideration of the
serious risks involved for Laos and the region. While more research is required
to confirm some of the preliminary findings presented in this article, it would be
disingenuous to claim that we do not already know enough to conclude that im-
pacts would be substantial. We have learned a lot about Mekong fisheries over
the last two decades, and we do not need to know everything about Mekong fish
and fisheries to recognize that the DSD represents a serious threat to fish and
fisheries in the Mekong River Basin.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: This study was financially supported by Oxfam Australia, but the
views expressed here represent those of the author and not necessarily Oxfam Australia
or any of its partners. Thanks to Chaloun Souriyavong from Khong District for his assis-
tance and Jutta Krahn from the World Food Program. Michael Thorne from the British
Antarctic Survey assisted with some data management. Thanks also to the MRC’s Fish-
eries Program for providing me with unpublished fish-catch data from the Mekong River

Baird / Don Sahong Dam 229

 upriver from the Khone Falls in Laos. The author is thankful for the useful comments
provided by reviewers on an earlier version of this article, and to CAS editor Tom Fenton.
Any errors that remain are my own.

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 Appendix 1
Fish species that migrate up the Mekong River from the Tonle Sap River each dry season
(adapted from Baird et al. 2003)
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 Appendix 2
Fish species’ presence and absence along Mekong River between the Khone Falls and
Vientiane Municipality
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