BANGKOK – The Xayaburi hydro dam that blocks the Mekong River in Laos includes a system of passages and locks intended to keep fish moving up and down Southeast Asia’s longest river.
Six years after the dam began operating and despite research funded by Australian aid, there are still doubts this system, intended to protect freshwater fisheries that are crucial to millions of people, works.
What is Xayaburi dam?
The Xayaburi dam is the first of numerous major dams planned for the lower Mekong, mostly in Laos. Some research has predicted the Mekong fishery – a chief source of protein and livelihoods for tens of millions of people in Southeast Asia – will decline by half if all are built.
It is well established globally that hydro dams destroy fisheries because they prevent migratory species of fish from reaching feeding, spawning and nursery habitats.
Arguments and activism against more dams could be strengthened if it is shown the Xayaburi fish passage is ineffective.
What is the research about?
Since 2019, fisheries experts from New South Wales-based Charles Sturt University have received Australian government funding to study the Xayaburi fish passage. Last year, they got further funding to extend the research until 2029.
The researchers have a confidentiality agreement with the dam operator, Xayaburi Power Company Ltd., which has a final say about what information is released and how it is portrayed.
The experts have published some research but not responded to questions on the record because of the confidentiality agreement.
They, in funding proposals obtained under Australia’s Freedom of Information Act, say it’s inevitable more dams will be built on the Mekong. They also point out that the economic and social case for the hydro dams is tenuous.
