After completion of Stage II in 1978 the government of the Lao PDR realized that it had neglected to account for how the dam would affect the Nam Ngum river ecosystem, and the hundreds of thousands of people who relied on fishing for subsistence. As a response to this issue fishery development projects were contributed by Netherlands and Switzerland. This included the construction of primary schools and water supply networks as well as the provision of gill nets and boat engines to selected villages. These projects were intended to facilitate fishery employment in Nam Ngum 1 reservoir. This project facilitated the movement of tens of thousands of local fisherman to the banks of the Nam Ngum reservoir throughout the 1980s and 1990s.