Author : Hap Navy

Summary : In this study, attempts were made to describe the production technology and to estimate the level of technical efficiency (TE) for middle-scale fishing (MSF) and family-scale fishing (FSF) in freshwater capture fisheries in Cambodia. It also identified who among the fishermen in both types of fishing are more aware of sustainable fisheries and mangement issues. The study was conducted in Phnom Penh, Kampong Cham, and Battambang provinces. The sample households for MSF was 146 from Phnom Penh and Kampong Cham province and 131 for FSF in Battambang province. A total of 277 households were interviewed using a prepared questionnaire to obtain houshold socioeconomic data in 1995. Production technology in both types of fishing differed in terms of fishing efforts such as gear, capacity of boat, number of labor, and major operating cost. Variables with the strongest effect on fish catch are capacity of boat and cost of operation. The marginal product of all inputs had a positive sign for both FSF and MSF groups. Moreover, decreasing returns to scale was observed for MSF and increasing returns to scale was observed for FSF.