From Farmers to Fishers. Developing Reservoir Aquaculture for People Displaced by Dams.

Hydropower and irrigation projects involving reservoirs can displace thousands of people from their traditional lands and deprive them of their livelihoods. If poorly planned, they can also lead to environmental degradation. Solutions to these problems must be found--solutions that are technically feasible, sustainable, environmentally appropriate, and acceptable to the people who are resettled. This paper explains how the planned, integrated development of fishery ecosystems in reservoirs not only can mitigate the negative social consequences of dam construction, but also can enhance the economic benefits from hydropower and irrigation projects in many developing countries. The paper draws on the success of fish farming efforts in the Saguling and Cirata reservoirs in Java, which attests to the potential for creating employment in reservoirs that are in place and under construction around the world.