Two men have been placed in pre-trial detention for “fishing using electric shock devices” in a Mekong River Irrawaddy dolphin conservation zone in Kratie province.

A 104kg, 1.98m male dolphin was found dead in the same preservation area on Sunday after its flipper became entangled in a fishing net.

Mok Punlok, Kratie provincial Fisheries Administration deputy chief, told The Post on Thursday that two men from Stung Treng's Siem Bok district, Seng Oeun, 29, and Thorn Piseth, 18, had been sent to the local court the previous day.

They were arrested on Tuesday in Kampong Kboeung village in Sambor district after a patrol by river wardens and local fishermen found them fishing with an electric shock device.

Police confiscated a homemade device consisting of a car battery, wires and a bamboo pole. A 5.9m motorised boat was also seized.