The species’ population has plummeted by 80% in recent decades due to rising pressures from overfishing, dams that block the migratory path the fish follow to spawn and other disruptions.
The underwater giants can grow up to 10 feet (3 meters) long and weigh up to 300 kilograms (661 pounds), or as heavy as a grand piano. They now are only found in Southeast Asia’s Mekong River but in the past inhabited the length of the 4,900-kilometer (3,044 mile)-long river, all the way from its outlet in Vietnam to its northern reaches in China’s Yunnan province.
HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Six critically endangered Mekong giant catfish — one of the largest and rarest freshwater fish in the world — were caught and released recently in Cambodia, reviving hopes for the survival of the species.
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Few of the millions of people who depend on the Mekong for their livelihoods have ever seen a giant catfish. To find six of the giants, which were caught and released within 5 days, is unprecedented.
The first two were on the Tonle Sap river, a tributary of the Mekong not far from Cambodian capital Phnom Penh. They were given identification tags and released. On Tuesday, fishermen caught four more giant catfish including two longer than 2 meters (6.5 feet) that weighed 120 kilograms and 131 kilograms (264 pounds and 288 pounds), respectively. The captured fish were apparently migrating from their floodplain habitats near Cambodia’s Tonle Sap Lake northward along the Mekong River, likely to spawning grounds in northern Cambodia, Laos or Thailand.
