Songs of the Doomed: The Continuing Neglect of Capture Fisheries in Hydropower Development in the Mekong

Narratives legitimize certain types of knowledge and exclude others, and are the means by which actors and institutions make claim to action and ownership over resources. The more complex the situation, the more such narratives endure. This is precisely what we see in development policy both within the worlds of fisheries and of hydropower in the Mekong region. Fisheries are complex, diverse and dynamic in many different ways. Yet, fishery discussions and policies seem to be dominated by gross simplifications of this complexity, wrapped up in a narrative of doom that leads to their marginalization and neglect in development policy. The aim of this chapter is to place this ‘conventional wisdom’ of doom under closer critical scrutiny. In doing so, this chapter builds on recent work addressing policy that combines the critical analysis of the arguments, assumptions and narratives that underpin policy approaches. Our concern is that the scale of these fisheries impacts and the implications are so far-reaching that it is important that these narratives and assumptions are explored in the public domain.

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