1 Frank van Acker, ‘Don't trust fish when they are in water: Cambodia's inland fisheries in transition’ (n.d.), p. 11.

2 The two provinces the researcher visited are identified as Provinces A and B, respectively. This anonymity is needed to ensure informants' security and safety. A semi-structured interview and discussion guide, with frequent probing questions, was used to collect the data. NVivo software was used to aid content analyses of the interview scripts and the primary and secondary documents.

3 Migdal, Joel, Strong societies and weak states: State–society relations and state capabilities in the Third World (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1988)Google Scholar, p. 22.

4 Migdal, Joel, State in society: Studying how states and societies transform and constitute one another (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2001)Google Scholar, p. 125.

5 Ibid., p. 56.

6 Dauvergne, Peter, ‘Weak states and the environment in Indonesia and the Solomon Islands’, in Weak and strong states in Asia–Pacific societies, ed. Dauvergne, Peter (St. Leonard's: Allen & Unwin, 1998)Google Scholar, p. 92. See also Migdal, Joel, Kohli, Atul and Shue, Vivienne, ‘Introduction: Developing a state-in-society perspective’, in State power and social forces: Domination and transformation in the Third World, ed. Migdal, Joel, Kohli, Atul and Shue, Vivienne (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994)Google Scholar, p. 2; Joel Migdal, ‘The state in society: An approach to struggles for domination’, in State power and social forces, pp. 8–20; Migdal, State in society, pp. 23–56, 232–63.

7 Haynes, Jeff, Third World politics: A concise introduction (Oxford: Blackwell, 1996), pp. 28–29Google Scholar; Harold Crouch, ‘Indonesia's strong state’, in Weak and strong states in Asia–Pacific societies, p. 163; Englehart, Neil A., ‘State capacity, state failure, and human rights’, Journal of Peace Research 46, 2 (2009)CrossRefGoogle Scholar: 102.

8 Migdal, Joel, ‘Vision and practice: The leader, the state, and the transformation of society’, International Political Science Review 9, 1 (1988): 24–5Google Scholar. See also Migdal, ‘The state in society’, pp. 8–14; Migdal, State in society, pp. 112–16.

9 Cited in Leftwich, Adrian, ‘States of underdevelopment: The Third World state in theoretical perspective’, Journal of Theoretical Politics 6, 1 (1994): 56–8.Google Scholar

10 Benedict J. Tria Kerkvliet, ‘Land regimes and state strengths and weaknesses in the Philippines and Vietnam’, in Weak and strong states in Asia–Pacific societies, pp. 158–74; Ron May, ‘State, society, and governance: Reflections on a Philippines–Papua New Guinea comparison’, in ibid., pp. 60–92.

11 See, for example, Reno, William, Warlord politics and African states (Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 1999).Google Scholar

12 See Colton, Timothy J. and Holmes, Stephen, The state after communism: Governance in the new Russia (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2006)Google Scholar; Dauvergne, Weak and strong states in Asia–Pacific societies; Migdal, Strong societies and weak states; Migdal, State in society.

13 Migdal, Strong societies and weak states, p. 141. For a discussion of joint projects, see Evans, Peter, Embedded autonomy: State and industrial transformation (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1995).Google Scholar

14 Ta-Kuan, Chou, The customs of Cambodia, trans. Pelliot, Paul (Bangkok: Siam Society, 1993)Google Scholar, p. 53.

15 See Peter Degen and Thuok Nao, ‘Inland fishery management in Cambodia: Is the fishing lot system the basis for improved management or should it be abolished?’ (Phnom Penh: MRC/DoF/Danida, 1998), pp. 6–7; Fisheries Action Coalition Team (FACT) and Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF), Feast or famine? Solutions to Cambodia's fisheries conflicts (Phnom Penh: FACT, 2001)Google Scholar, p. 40; Hortle, Kent G., Sopha Lieng, and Valbo-Jorgensen, John, An introduction to Cambodia's inland fisheries (Phnom Penh: MRC, 2004)Google Scholar, pp. 20, 26. For a list of legislation, see Thuok Nao and Seng Choeu Po, An executive history of the creation of fisheries laws of the Kingdom of Cambodia (Phnom Penh: DoF, 2006).Google Scholar

16 See further Degen and Nao, ‘Inland fishery management in Cambodia’, p. 7; Peter Degen et al., ‘Taken for granted: Conflicts over Cambodia's freshwater fish resources’ (Phnom Penh: MRC, 2000), p. 9; Gum, Wayne, Inland aquatic resources and livelihoods in Cambodia: A guide to the literature, legislation, institutional framework and recommendations (Phnom Penh: Oxfam, 2000)Google Scholar, p. 16; Hortle, Lieng, and Valbo-Jorgensen, An introduction to Cambodia's inland fisheries, p. 20; Swift, Peter, Developing a research framework for the fishing lot system in Cambodia: Two preliminary case studies on fishing lots in Takeo and Kompong Chhnang provinces, Annex 17A (Phnom Penh: MRC/DoF/Danida, 1997)Google Scholar; Touch, Seang Tana and Todd, Bruce, The inland and marine fisheries trade in Cambodia (Phnom Penh: Oxfam America, 2002)Google Scholar, pp. 8, 13.

17 See Degen and Nao, ‘Inland fishery management in Cambodia’, p. 7; FACT and EJF, Feast or famine?, p. 40; Swift, Developing a research framework, Annex 17A.

18 For a discussion of ‘research lots’, see Say Sok, ‘State building in Cambodia’ (Ph.D. diss., Deakin University, Melbourne, 2012).

19 See ibid. for a discussion of CFis and the organisational and managerial capacities of CFCs.

20 DoF was transformed to the Fisheries Administration, equivalent in status to a general department, in 2006 though it is still affiliated with MAFF.

21 Cited in Ly, Vuthy, Yin, Dara and Degen, Peter, ‘Management aspects of Cambodia's freshwater capture fisheries’, in Management aspects of Cambodia's freshwater capture fisheries: Eleven presentations given at the Annual Meeting of the Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries 27–28 January 2000, ed. Van Zalinge, Nicolaas, Nao, Thuok and Lieng, Sopha (Phnom Penh: MRC and DoF, 2000)Google Scholar, p. 97. Pumping is an illegal activity, when it involves pumping a water body up to a point that the existing water level is below the level the Fisheries Law permits. This is sometimes followed by sweeping, in which concessionaires/operators use mobile net gear to trawl the river bed, usually moved by multiple engine boats, to catch fish. Electro-fishing involves the use of an electrical pole connected to a mobile battery for fishing. Brush parks involve putting tree branches and leaves in a river, lake or stream in a pile to create an artificial inundated forest to attract fish. After some time, the area is cordoned off by fishing nets, and the fish inside are caught.

22 Degen and Nao, ‘Inland fishery management in Cambodia’, p. 11; Sithirith Mak, Piseth Vann and Sokkhoeun Te, ‘Communication strategies for fisheries conflict management: A case study in Cambodia’, Final Technical Report of DFID project R8294, Annex 7:7 (Phnom Penh: DFID, 2004), pp. 9, 25; NGO Forum on Cambodia, ‘Public forum on lot boundary disputes in Battambang’, 25 Feb. 2000 (n.p.), pp. 10–34; Sverdrup-Jensen, Sten, Poul, Degnbol and Ahmed, Mahfuzuddin, Guide to fisheries policy research in Cambodia: The institutional and legal context (Penang: WorldFish Centre, 2006)Google Scholar, p. 18.

23 Chhin Bin, ‘Report on the result from Implementing Decision 39 SSR Dating 01 July 2011 of the RGC on the establishment of Commission to Inspect Development Lots around the Tonle Sap Lake’, 10 Aug. 2011; FiA, ‘Meeting minute on review of results from inspection of anarchic illegal fishing in response to Order 01BB Dated 22 May 2011’, Phnom Penh, 3 June 2011; informants 4–6, 9, 14–28, 45–6, 49–57, 61–63, 65.

24 Informants 45, 46, 57; Carl Middleton, Sodary Chap, and Sarom Leng, ‘Resettlement of Peam Psot village, Ta Pon commune, Sangke district, Battambang Province’ (Phnom Penh: FACT, 2005), p. 3; see also Van Acker, Cambodia's commons, pp. 13–14.

25 Informants 45, 46, 49–56, 57, 61–63. See also Allebone-Webb, Sophie et al. , ‘The value of commercial fisheries’, in Integration of commercial and conservation objectives in Prek Toal, Tonle Sap and Battambang Fishing Lot #2 (Phase 1: Understanding current management systems and recommendations for reforms), ed. Clements, Tom and Allebone-Webb, Sophie (Phnom Penh: Wildlife Conservation Society and FiA, 2010)Google Scholar; Swift, Developing a research framework.

26 See Allebone-Webb et al., ‘The value of commercial fisheries’; Degen and Nao, ‘Inland fishery management in Cambodia’; Touch and Todd, The inland and marine fisheries, p. 128; Nicolaas van Zalinge and Rath Troeung, ‘Organization of fishing operations in Lot 2 Battambang and proposed sampling plan to assess its fish catch’ (n.p., 2008).

27 Informants 1, 10, 11–13, 29, 45, 46, 49–56, 57, 58, 61–63. See also Bin, ‘Report on the result’; Gum, Inland aquatic resources, p. 28; Wildlife Conservation Society and FiA, ‘Comparison between outcomes under the proposed Prek Toal Sanctuary and alternative management regime’, in Integration of commercial and conservation objectives, pp. 105–6.

28 Informants 4, 9, 11–13, 14–28, 30–44, 45, 49–56, 58, 59–60, 61–3; NGO Forum on Cambodia, ‘Fishing conflict in Kompong Chhnang’ (n.p., 2004), p. 25. See also Allebone-Webb et al., ‘The value of commercial fisheries’, p. 48; Bin, ‘Report on the result’; Degen et al., ‘Taken for granted conflicts’, pp. 18–9; Degen, Peter et al. , ‘People, power, and fisheries policy: Fisheries management reform addressing community fisheries in Cambodia’, Fourth technical symposium on Mekong fisheries (Phnom Penh: MRC, 2001)Google Scholar, p. 16; DoF, Impacts of the fisheries policy reforms in Kampong Cham, Pursat and Takeo provinces: First round assessment report (Phnom Penh: DoF, 2004)Google Scholar, p. 2; Gum, Inland aquatic resources, pp. iii–iv, 22–8.

29 Kingsbury, Damien, Political development (Abingdon: Routledge, 2007), pp. 183–4Google Scholar; see also Englehart, ‘State capacity, state failure, and human rights’, p. 168.

30 It is worth noting that the official national poverty line was US$0.50 then, and the Tonle Sap area was and still is one of the poorest regions in Cambodia.

31 Sithirith Mak, ‘Fishing for lives: Conflicts and struggles between communities and fishing lots in Kompong Chhnang Province’ (Phnom Penh: NGO Forum on Cambodia, 2000), pp. 14–15; NGO Forum on Cambodia, ‘Fishing conflict in Kampong Chhnang’, pp. 13–15.

32 NGO Forum on Cambodia, ‘Fishing conflicts in Battambang’ (Phnom Penh: NGO Forum on Cambodia, 2004), p. 12. See also Yin Dara, Ly Vuthy, Prak Leang Huor, Thomas Olesen and Peter Degen, ‘Time allocation of fisher–farmer households in Phlong Village, in Fishing Lot 14, Kampong Chhnang’ (Phnom Penh: IFReDI Cambodia Fisheries Technical Paper Series, 2001), p. 41.

33 Cecilia Aipira, ‘Against all odds: Construction of livelihoods in the absence of rights to nature in Cambodia’ (M.Sc. thesis, Lund University, 2009), pp. 35–7; Van Zalinge and Troeung, ‘Organization of fishing operations’.

34 Informants 7–8.

35 See also Allebone-Webb et al., ‘The value of commercial fisheries’, p. 47; Chheng, Vibolrith, ‘Case study of Fishing Lot No. 3 in Siem Reap Province’, in Present status of Cambodia's freshwater fisheries and management implications: Nine presentations given at the Annual Meeting at the Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, 19–21 January, 1999, ed. van Zalinge, Nicolaas, Nao, Thuok and Deap, Leoung (Phnom Penh: MRC and DoF, 1999)Google Scholar, p. 112; FACT and EJF, Feast or famine?, p. 25; Swift, Developing a research framework, pp. 62–7.

36 See Bin, ‘Report on the result’; Swift, Developing a research framework; TSA, ‘Report on results from implementing RGC's Order 01BB on Measures to Protect Fisheries Resources and Protection of Areas around Tonle Sap Lake’ (Phnom Penh: TSA, 31 Aug. 2010); Frank van Acker, ‘Don't trust fish’, pp. 1–40.

37 See, for example, Le Billon, Philippe, ‘The political ecology of transition in Cambodia 1989–1999: War, peace and forest exploitation’, Development and Change 31, 4 (2000): 785–805Google Scholar; Le Billon, Philippe and Springer, Simon, ‘Between war and peace: Violence and accommodation in the Cambodian logging sector’, in Extreme conflict and tropical forests, ed. de Jong, Wil, Donovan, Deanna and Abe, Ken-ichi (Dordrecht: Springer, 2007), pp. 17–36Google Scholar; witness, Global, Cambodia's family trees: Illegal logging and the stripping of public assets by Cambodia's elites (Washington, D.C.: Global Witness, 2007)Google Scholar; Say Sok, ‘State building in Cambodia. The politics of land management and administration in Cambodia: Focusing on Ratanakiri Province’ (M.A. thesis, Kobe University, 2005).

38 Hughes, Caroline, The political economy of Cambodia's transition, 1991–2001 (New York: Routledge Curzon, 2003)Google Scholar, p. 13. See also Toshiyasu Kato, Jeffrey A. Kaplan, Chan Sophal and Real Sopheap et al., Cambodia: Enhancing good governance for sustainable development, Cambodia Development Resource Institute Working Paper No. 14 (Phnom Penh, 2000), p. 97.

39 Frank van Acker, Cambodia's commons: Changing governance, shifting entitlements? (Discussion Paper No. 42, Centre for ASEAN Studies, Antwerp, 2003), p. 23.

40 Sverdrup-Jensen, Poul and Ahmed, Guide to fisheries policy research in Cambodia, pp. 26–7. See also Neou, Bonheur et al. , ‘Towards a holistic approach to wetland governance: The legal and institutional framework and economic evaluation of wetland resources in Cambodia’, in Wetland governance in the Mekong region: Country reports on the legal–institutional framework and economic evaluation of aquatic resources, ed. Oh, Edmund J.V. et al. (Penang: WorldFish Centre, 2005), pp. 70–1.Google Scholar

41 See Srun, Lim Song, Sopha, Lieng, Try, Ing and Sotharith, Heng, ‘The unsustainable exploitation of inland fisheries resources in Cambodia’, in Overcoming factors of unsustainability and overexploitation in fisheries. Selected papers on issues and approaches: International workshop on the implementation of international fisheries instruments and factors of unsustainability and overexploitation in fisheries, ed. Swan, J. and Greboval, D. (Rome: FAO, 2005).Google Scholar

42 Cambodia National Mekong Committee (CNMC), Natural resources-based development strategy for the Tonle Sap area (Phnom Penh: CNMC, 1998)Google Scholar, p. 24; Degen et al., ‘People, power, and fisheries policy’, p. 14.

43 Van Acker, Cambodia's commons, p. 31.

44 Evans, Embedded autonomy, pp. 36–7.

45 DoF, ‘Report on fishing lot leasing’ (Phnom Penh: DoF, 1999).

46 See also Hortle, Lieng, and Valbo-Jorgensen, An introduction to Cambodia's inland fisheries, p. 28; Wildlife Conservation Society and FiA, ‘Comparison between outcomes’, pp. 105–6.

47 Bin, ‘Report on the result’; Informant 2.

48 See Baran, Eric, Jantunen, Teemu and Chong, Chiew Kieok, Values of inland fisheries in the Mekong River Basin (Phnom Penh: WorldFish Center, 2007)Google Scholar, p. 51; Van Zalinge and Troeung, ‘Organization of fishing operations’.

49 Thuok Nao, Mahfuzuddin Ahmed and Nuov Sam, ‘Cambodia's Great Lake: How to sustain its ecological and economic diversity’, Paper presented at the Sixth Annual Meeting of the International Association for the Study of Common Property, Berkeley, 5–8 June 1996, p. 2.

50 Conflict managers refer to local authorities from village to provincial levels, CFC members and fisheries officials. Sithirith Mak and Sokkhoeun Te, ‘Enabling fisheries conflict management: A case study in Cambodia’ (Phnom Penh: FACT, 2005), pp. 19–20.

51 van Acker, Frank, Free riders and social fences: Common property, collective action and decentralized natural resource management in Cambodia (Phnom Penh: Learning Institute, 2010), pp. 115–16.Google Scholar

52 Informants 45, 48, 49–56.

53 Informants 9, 11–13, 57.

54 Swift, Developing a research framework, p. 20.

55 Informant 57; Sithirith Mak, ‘The Tonle Sap and its fisheries management: A case in Cambodia’ (Phnom Penh: FACT), pp. 16–7; NGO Forum on Cambodia, ‘Fishing conflict in Kompong Chhnang’, pp. 10–20.

56 Wildlife Conservation Society and FiA, ‘Comparison between outcomes’, p. 106. See also Mak, ‘Fishing for lives’, p. 10; NGO Forum on Cambodia, ‘Fishing conflict in Kompong Chhnang’, pp. 19–20.

57 Informants 1, 46, 64; Bin, ‘Report on the result’.

58 Informants 3, 46, 47.

59 Informant 47.

60 Informant 64.

61 Levy, ‘Mexico’, p. 158.

62 Asian Development Bank (ADB), Cambodia: Enabling the socio-economic renaissance (Manila: ADB, 2000), pp. 9–10.Google Scholar

63 See Le Billon, ‘The political ecology’, pp. 561–84; Le Billon and Springer, ‘Between war and peace’, pp. 17–36; Kheang Un and Sokbunthoeun So, ‘Politics of natural resource use in Cambodia’, Asian Affairs: An American Review 36, 3 (2009): 123–38.Google Scholar

64 Evans, Patrick, Marschke, Melissa, and Paudyal, Kiran, Flood forest, fish and fishing villages: Community resources transition management around Tonle Sap Great Lake Cambodia (Phnom Penh: FAO and Asia Forest Network, 2003), pp. 3–5.Google Scholar

65 Grzymala-Busse and Luong, ‘Reconceptualizing the state’, pp. 531–7.

66 Degen and Nao, ‘Inland fishery management in Cambodia’, p. 8; Degen et al., ‘Taken for granted conflicts’, pp. 2–3; Van Acker, ‘Don't trust fish’, pp. 12–15.

67 Mahfuzuddin Ahmed, Seang Tana Touch, and Thuok Nao, ‘Sustaining the gifts of the Mekong: The future of freshwater capture fisheries in Cambodia’, Watershed, Mar.–June 1996, p. 3; Nao, Ahmed, and Sam, ‘Cambodia's Great Lake’, p. 4.

68 Cited in NGO Forum on Cambodia, ‘Public forum on lot boundary’, n.p.

69 Informant 65.

70 DoF, ‘Report on fishing lot leasing’, Informant 46.

71 DoF, ‘Letter No. 153, 158 and 161 RS.Kh 199 dating 6 and 7 May, 1999 of the Commission on Human Rights and Litigation of the National Assembly’; Touch and Todd, The inland and marine fisheries, pp. 128–31.

72 See, for example, Sophakchakrya Khouth, ‘PM order for ACU oversight’, Phnom Penh Post, 28 Nov. 2011.

73 Informants 45, 46.

74 Touch and Todd, The inland and marine fisheries, pp. 129–30.

75 Van Acker, ‘Don't trust fish’, pp. 12–13. See also Degen et al., ‘Taken for granted conflicts’, p. 18.

76 Fukuyama, Francis, State-building: Governance and world order in the 21st century (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2004), pp. 18–19.Google Scholar

77 The 2011 nullification of the 36 research lots was an exception. However, it was initiated by the newly established TSA and approved by the prime minister.

78 Grzymala-Busse and Luong, ‘Reconceptualizing the state’, pp. 533–4.

79 Crone, Donald K., ‘State, social elites, and government capacity in Southeast Asia’, World Politics 40, 2 (1988)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Dauvergne, ‘Weak states, strong states’, p. 7.

80 Hughes, The political economy, p. 80; see also Roberts, David, ‘Post-conflict statebuilding and state legitimacy: From negative to positive peace?’, Development and Change 39, 4 (2008): 544–5Google Scholar; Kheang Un, ‘Patronage politics and hybrid democracy: Political change in Cambodia, 1993–2003’, Asian Perspective 29, 2 (2005): 224–9.Google Scholar

81 See Degen et al., ‘Taken for granted conflicts’, pp. 18–19, Sithirith Mak and Carl Grundy-Warr, ‘Spaces of engagement and contested territories of the Tonle Sap’, 2007; Touch and Todd, The inland and marine fisheries.

82 Evans, Embedded autonomy, p. 59.

83 Van Zalinge and Troeung, ‘Organization of fishing operations’; Informant 45.

84 However, the instantaneous reforms in 2001 and 2011 without any consultation with any social stakeholders attest to the ‘strength’ (but not necessary capacity) of the state relative to society.

85 Informant 4.