Numbers Of World's Largest Freshwater Fish - Mekong Catfish - Down 90% In 20 Years

[hatrack]

The population of the Mekong giant catfish has plummeted 90 percent in just two decades and the species are at risk of extinction, says a new WWF report. According to the report titled River of Giants: Giant Fish of the Mekong, the world's biggest freshwater fish and four out of the top 10 giant freshwater fish species can be found in the Mekong River, which flows through Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.

But their existence has been threatened by a combination of infrastructure development, habitat destruction and overharvesting, the WWF said. “More giant fish live in the Mekong than any other river on Earth,” said Dang Thuy Trang, Mekong River Ecoregion Coordinator for the WWF Greater Mekong Program.

“Currently, the Lower Mekong remains free-flowing, which presents a rare opportunity for the conservation of these species. But the clock is ticking.”

The report said the single most important threat is the hydropower dams in the lower Mekong and large tributaries. “For many of the fish, the obstruction posed by these developments block migration routes to spawning grounds; if the mega fish stop migrating, they will stop spawning,” it said.

EDIT

http://www.thanhniennews.com/2010/Pages/20100728214335.aspx

[postulater]

1. Let's see. Mekong, VietNam, 20 years, War, Agent Orange, Toxicity.

Hmmmmmm. No must be just the hydropower dams.

[MineralMan]

3. Actually, it is the dams. The fish managed to survive the war.

I've seen them caught by anglers since then. If individual anglers can catch them, they're not close to extinction. That's no longer the case. Same with some other giant freshwater fish species in India. It's a lack of concern for their existence and the building of structures that prevent the migrations necessary for their reproduction. It almost happened here, as well, but we've caught most of the rivers in time and populations of giant fish are growing again.

[postulater]

4. Those fish were on a cable show called Monster Fish.

It must have been amazing to see one caught. Sad they won't be around.

One fish that was also on Monster Fish that might have a chance is the White Sturgeon. They also require clean flowing rivers to spawn. The Native Americans are working hard to keep the population up in the western US rivers.

[MineralMan]

2. Sadly, wildlife preservation is not a high priority in any

of the nations the Mekong flows through. I don't see a rosy future for any of these giants. More's the pity. They could be saved.

Here in the US, we've managed to save a number of large river fish species. In fact, numbers of several are up sharply in the past 20 to 50 years. The large catfish species are thriving in our major rivers. I know that to be the case, because a catch and release many very large examples, right in downtown St. Paul, MN. Sturgeon, too, have come back from near extinction in the St. Croix river and other rivers in Minnesota and elsewhere, through careful management. They had almost disappeared. Paddlefish, too, once almost gone, are back in large numbers. Much of this has happened through clean water legislation and better management, along with a changed emphasis by anglers and an end to commercial harvest of these species.

Such conditions do not exist in the Mekong River nations. Not at all. I don't see how they will be established, either. So, I'm afraid these ancient giants are doomed.