ABSTRACT

The chapter compares three fishing communities in Cambodia – one on Tonle Sap lake, one on a floodplain, and one in a coastal area – with respect to their coping strategies under diminishing fish resources. Some of the fishing communities have relied on migration and daily wage work, while others have relied on paid employment in the vicinity of their villages. The non-fishing activities are undertaken mainly by women and their adult children. From an analysis of how the incomes were used in the households, the study on which the chapter is based revealed that investment choices prioritized men’s occupations, namely those related to fishing. Households with full-time fishers identified their household as a fishing household and mobilized resources to maintain their households’ livelihoods. Women worked to subsidize fishing by engaging in lower-paid work, yet despite earning an income, their status in the household did not seem to improve.