Asia, a crucial region for migratory species, is witnessing their alarming decline. A major United Nations report released this year warned that one in five of the world’s migratory species protected under a global convention are at risk of extinction. The threat is particularly severe for fish. Nearly all – a staggering 97% – of the fish listed under the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals are facing complete disappearance.
A stark example is the Mekong giant catfish (Pangasianodon gigas), one of the world’s largest freshwater species and a living legend of the Mekong River. Each year the fish undertakes a remarkable migration, when between October and December they journey from lakes downstream in Vietnam, swimming upstream to spawn in Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand. Only a recent report by the World Wide Fund for Nature points to a drastic decline in the number of Mekong giant catfish attributed to several factors, including habitat destruction, unsustainable practices, invasive species, climate change, and dams for electricity generation.
