More than 10 tonnes of fish have been collected from a canal in Banteay Meanchey where the dead catch has been washing up since Sunday.

Heng Seng Krey, fishery administration chief of Banteay Meanchey’s Mongkol Borei district, said more than 200 people have come to collect the dead fish from the canal.

“One villager could net 30 to 40 kilograms of the dead fish a day, and after a few days of this happening, they have collected over 10 tons,” he said.

Nob Kit, a leader of the local fishing community, expressed concern that the people and birds consuming the dead fish will be poisoned.

“We are worried, because the dead fish that have been collected from the canal could be poisonous, and could affect the health of the residents,” he said.

Fishery experts say that a lack of water supply due to an upstream dam or pollution from rice field run-off could be causing the sudden, large numbers of dead fish.