PHNOM PENH: The Royal Government has established an inter-ministerial commission to prevent and crack down on illegal fishing in the Tonle Sap Lake. The commission has the right to use Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) helicopters to carry out its mission.

The government's decision to establish an inter-ministerial commission to crack down on illegal fishing in the Tonle Sap Lake was announced on Friday, 22 April 2022. The commission is chaired by the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Veng Sakhon, and is tasked with organizing operations to prevent and crack down on fishing offenses, search for offenders and those involved in fishing offenses, as well as arrest those offenders along with evidence of other offenses sent to court.

It is noteworthy that the government has allowed the commission to set up special working groups as necessary to fulfill its duties, and has given the commission the right to use RCAF Air Force helicopters to carry out its necessary mission and also the right to use the seal of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.

The establishment of this commission comes after Prime Minister Hun Sen called on the six provinces surrounding the Tonle Sap Lake to take measures to prevent and suppress fishing crimes, while speaking at the closing ceremony of the work review meeting of the Ministry of Agriculture on 23 March 2022.

At the time, he had also said that the government had prepared some helicopters to crack down on fishery crimes because the boats used by criminals move faster than the boats of the fishery authorities, hindering the crackdown on crime.

The Prime Minister had said, "The boats [criminals use] are faster than our boats, now we ask how fast? I am preparing some helicopters to land on the Tonle Sap. Now, let's get together and do something to crack down on [these crimes]."