Blighted by drought and climate change, overfishing, pollution, and massive dam construction, the plight of the Mekong River has been well-documented over the last 20 years. But Southeast Asia’s largest river system is still capable of producing the odd surprise or record catch.
Thanks to fishermen working around Koh Preah island near Stung Treng in Cambodia’s northeast, scientists say they can finally identify the world’s largest freshwater fish – a 300-kilogram female stingray, named Boremei by locals, Khmer for “full moon.”
Measuring four meters from snout to tail, the giant stingray broke the previous record set in Thailand where a 293-kilogram Mekong giant catfish was discovered in 2005. That fish died before it could be sold to environmental groups and – rather unfortunately – was divided between villagers and reportedly fed the community for several weeks.
In full: https://thediplomat.com/2022/06/a-depleted-river-scores-a-world-record-catch/
