This is the first of two stories about the potential impact of Cambodia’s planned Funan Techo Canal. Part two, about consequences for inland communities and wildlife, will be published soon. KEP, Cambodia — “Nobody from the government has spoken to us directly about how we’ll be affected,” Mae Vuthy told Mongabay while he sat on his longtail fishing boat moored off the coast of Angkoal commune in Cambodia’s Kep province. “We’re all concerned, we’re all fishers, so we need access to the water, but what can we do? We have no power.” That morning, in November 2024, Vuthy had just returned to shore after laying crab traps and collecting fishing nets that he’d left in the Gulf of Thailand overnight. It had been a disappointing haul for Vuthy and his crew, but not a surprising one. Rampant illegal fishing and breakneck coastal development have left Cambodia’s marine fisheries reeling for years. Now, on top of the dwindling catches he pulls from the water and the increased pressure from land privatization along the coast, Vuthy, the fishing community and the marine lifeforms of Kep’s waters face a new threat. The Funan Techo Canal, which will link the Mekong River in inland Kandal province to the sea in Kep, looks set to turn the sleepy fishing commune of Angkoal into a bustling port and logistics hub. Mongabay has followed this mega-project’s development for more than a year. We’ve spoken with more than 50 people living along the canal’s proposed route in Kandal, Takeo,…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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