Presentation by panelists Simon Funge-Smith, Chaiwat Prechawit and Sophie Nguyen-Khoa on 'Fish friendly irrigation: Enhancing production, livelihoods and health' during World Water Week, Tuesday, 24 August 2021.

2. Inland fisheries are important for development
and should not be overlooked
Simon Funge-Smith
Senior Fishery Officer, FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific

3. Inland fisheries found in: rivers, streams, deltas, floodplains, swamps,
flooded forests, peatlands, ponds, lakes, rice fields, man-made
reservoirs

4. Mostly small-scale and diffuse
Huge range of traditional gears

5. End of monsoon fisheries are
hugely productive, target choke
points in floodplains, irrigation
system drainages and next to
irrigation bottlenecks (regulators)

6. Ricefield fisheries
Generate a wide range of aquatic
biodiversity, used for food
Highly accessible
>230 species of fish, insects, molluscs,
crustaceans, reptiles, amphibians…
…and plants!

7. Global inland fisheries catch
was 12.1 million tonnes in
2021
13 % of total global fish catch
21 % of global captured food
fish (marine and freshwater)
7.5 % of total food fish

8. Inland fisheries are important in some
countries and areas for food and
nutrition
11.5 million tonnes equivalent to full
dietary animal protein of >158
million people
~2% of total global population
Providing nutritional quality where
there are otherwise poor diets e.g.
Low GDP countries with inland
fisheries (micronutrients, vitamins)

9. 43% inland catch from
Low Income Food
Deficit Countries
Some of the poorest countries in
the world are the most dependent
upon inland fish
Blue= per capita freshwater fish catch
>2kg/capita/year
Low Income Food Deficit Countries (dark blue)
Landlocked countries (medium blue)
Non landlocked, non LIFDC (light blue)

10. You would be surprised at the level of
engagement in inland fisheries
17-21 million people in capture with ~8 - 38 million in
post-harvest
2.5 – 6% of the global agricultural workforce
Full-time, but more usually part-time, typically rural,
small-scale and often mixed with farming

11. Regulating water has wide ranging impacts on
aquatic ecosystems and their biodiversity…and on their
fish for food security
J Some positive
Extension of aquatic regimes
Creation of wetlands and
habitat
Aquaculture opportunities
L Mostly negative
Obstruction of fish migration and
water connectivity
Changes to water flows and the
loss of natural habitat

12. Irrigation systems design and operation optimized
for efficient water delivery for agricultural crops
….fish were not a consideration, and the gains
from irrigation, offset with losses from fisheries

13. L Disruption of connectivity
Structures block fish movement in the wet season
as they move through a floodplain or upriver to
spawn

14. L Altering flows
Changes in flow confuse fish
Upsets migration cues
Rapid fluctuations may leave
them stranded
L Physical damage
Physical damage through
turbines and regulators

15. J Creation of new habitats and extension of wetlands
Reservoirs, wetlands in seepage
and drainage areas

16. Irrigation systems and
their reservoirs are
complex dynamic
ecosystems.
J With the right
management, fish
production can be
increased, benefiting
nearby communities.

17. Options to restore
fisheries when
designing, upgrading or
renovating irrigation
systems
Greening grey infrastructure
and nature-based solutions
Irrigation
headworks:
Existing
Planned

18. Greening grey infrastructure
Tailoring low head fishways for floodplain species
Improved transparency of regulators

19. Promoting ‘nature-based’
solutions
Constructed wetlands
Community fish refuges
Rice-fish integration
Restoring riparian habitat
Flood control

20. Enhancing fisheries in
reservoirs and irrigation tanks
Stock enhancement and
culture based fisheries

21. Recommendations
• Proactive policy for integration
of fish into irrigation
• Highlight its potential to
enhance aquatic biodiversity
and livelihoods (particularly
nutrition)
• Build technical capacity to
support integration of fish into
irrigation improvement
• Lending portfolios for irrigation
incorporate fisheries-
integration

22. Thank you

23. A Case Study of Bang Rakam Low Land Model
Fish Friendly Irrigation Systems in Thailand:

24. ICID is interested in integrating
fish farming with irrigation.

34. Participatory water management
Meeting of all
sectors in 4 districts
มติ ที่ประชุมฯ
1
2
3

35. 1
1
2 2
3 3
4
4
Using Stop log in front of gates
Using Stop log in front of gates
Using old gates for additional
control
Using old gates for additional
control
Using big bags Using big bags
Using hydraulic jacks
Using hydraulic jacks
Storing water for dry season rice
Participatory Water Management
Water management in 2020
Closing of Bang Kaew barrage

36. Local leaders-farmers-fishery dept.-RID.
join to release fish in the project
Participatory Water Management

40. Guidelines on Integrating
Fisheries in Irrigation
Systems
Stockholm World Water Week 2021
24 August 2021, 07:00-08:30 CEST
Sophie Nguyen Khoa

41. A shift in thinking
• Viewing irrigation as
multifunctional agroecosystems
delivering a range of services,
beyond crop production
• Extending the scope and
boundaries of the system, beyond
the scheme and its command area
• Engaging with a wider range of
stakeholders (water users and
managers of the system)
• Understanding the distribution of
costs and benefits: who is gaining
or losing what? where in the
system? how and how much?
Governance
Supporting Functions
Conventional Irrigation
Systems
Fish-friendly Irrigation
Systems
Integration of fisheries
Buidling
capacity of local
institutions
Access rights
for fishers
Conflict
resolution
mechanisms
Early engagement
of stakeholders
across sectors
Adequate supply of
irrigation water (quantity,
quality, timing)
Building capacity of
farmers & fishers
Reseach on WCI
planning and design
Polycentric
Governance
Coordinated
Policies &
Institutions
Fish-Friendly Irrigation (FFI) provides a range of
Nature-based Solutions (NBS)

42. A stepped process for
systemic change
Participatory, integrated and
adaptive approach
Iterative or recursive steps as
relevant
Stakeholders engaged throughout
the process
Interdisciplinary team including
social and governance specialists
Selected tools and methods of
varying degree of complexity to
support implementation

43. • Photo credit: International Rivers
Understanding the context
The irrigation system
• Objectives of new scheme, rehabilitation, modernization
• Key features
The biophysical and ecological context
The socio-economic and livelihood context
The governance context
• Local institutional arrangements
• National legislation of the relevant sectors
• Coordination between institutions, local partnerships and
co-management
Engaging with stakeholders
• Identification, mapping, analysis
• Mechanisms for engagement
• Addressing potential or existing conflicts
Photo Credit: International Rivers

44. Assessing Impacts
and Opportunities
Risk assessment for prioritisation
- What can go wrong to create (-) impacts?
- How likely is this happen?
- What are the consequences?
- How to reduce the likelihood or risk?
Assessing the priority
consequences
- Biophysical: habitats, fisheries ecology
and yields
- Fisheries production and livelihoods
- Governance of water resources, fisheries
and the environment (formal and
informal)
Assets for which access
is modified by
in a context
of
resulting in
strategies
composed of
activities
with outcomes in
terms of
Natural
e.g. land, water,
fish stocks,
forest
Physical
infrastructure,
tools and
buildings
Human
skills, knowledge
and health
Financial
income flows,
savings, credit
Social
kinship networks,
associations,
trust, access to
wider institutions
Social relations
- Gender
- Wealth rank
- Class
- Age
- Ethnicity
Institutions
- Customary
- Land & water
tenure
- Markets
Organizations
- Associations
- NGOs
- Local admin.
- State agencies
Trends
- Population
- Migration
- Tech.
change
- Prices
- Macro policy
- National &
global market
Shocks
- Climatic
- Market
- Disease
- Conflict
Livelihood
strategies
- Fishing
- Cultivation
- Livestock
- Other hunting and
gathering
- Rural manufacture
- Rural trade
- Services
- Farm labour
- Non-farm labour
- Migration
- Remittances
- Other transfers
Livelihood security
- Income level
- Income stability
- Seasonality
- Vulnerability
Environmental
sustainability
- Soil & land quality
- Water
- Fish stocks
- Forests
- Biodiversity
Resource
endowment
Institutional and policy environment,
and vulnerability context
Household choices and resource
allocation
Outcomes

45. Screening and Scoping
Screening the potential measures
1) Minimizing loss or degradation of aquatic
habitats
2) Maintaining ecological connectivity
3) Compensating for or offsetting losses with
alternative fishing options
4) Developing new aquatic habitats
Mitigation
• Maintaining aquatic habitats
• Maintaining connectivity between
waterbodies and habitats
Enhancement or improvement
• Fisheries in newly created habitats
• Increasing fisheries production
• Developing the supply chain
Source: Gregory et al., 2018
Upstream of a dam
Downstream of a dam

46. Evaluating the Tradeoffs
• Identifying the water requirements
for agriculture and fisheries (when,
where, how much, of which
quality)
• Tradeoff Analysis, MCA
• Selection of best options
Committing to Implementation
Monitoring and Adapting
Agriculture requirements Capture Fisheries requirements
Reservoir
management
Reservoirs supply water esp. during
the dry season
Water drawdown changes fisheries
productivity
Fish migrations in the early onset of
monsoon season require flowing waters
Dam
operation
Alter water availability Fish friendly flows (as part of env. flows)
downstream of the dam
Fish passes,
fishways
Alter water availability Migration of fish across infrastructure
(upstream-downstream or laterally) requires
fish passes/fishways
Gate
operation
Storing water requires closing the
gates
Opening to maintain habitats and
connectivity
Water
distribution
Diversion from some agriculture fields
and crops
Water for fish in critical habitats or
connectivity points
Flood
control
Opening a gate to drain water and
prevent flooding
Fish migration requires opening of the gate
Rice paddy Reduction of water consumption (or
increase of water productivity) for rice
production
Fish cannot survive in rice paddies that are
dried out, unless refuge areas are provided
within the paddy.
Draining Draining and drying of the system
are required before harvest to dry off
the field crop.
Minimum water levels in channels are
needed to provide water for fish, unless
refuge areas are constructed.

47. Irrigation increasingly expected to deliver multiple
benefits:
Not only for food production and return on investment
But also, for:
- Food and nutrition security
- Social inclusion and improved rural livelihoods
- Integrity of the landscape, environmental preservation
Plan, design, build, operate and manage irrigation
as multi-use systems
Supporting tools and guidelines such as the Guide
published by FAO, IWMI and WorldFish (2020)
Development and improvement through lessons
from implementation
Concluding Remarks
Thank you!
https://digitalarchive.worldfishcenter.org