Fish Conservation Zones (FCZs) / Fish Conservative Zones

Deep-water areas or river stretches designated by a Fisheries Management Committee or by village-level fisheries regulations as prohibited (no-take) zones for the whole year, to serve as habitats and safe breeding areas for aquatic organisms (Fisheries Law Art. 3.6 and Art. 38.6). Hundreds of such community FCZs exist on the Mekong and its tributaries across Laos; individual zones are named and demarcated locally rather than in a single national registry.