The death last week of a 2.5-meter-long Mekong giant catfish, a critically endangered species that’s considered the largest freshwater fish in the world, has spurred fisheries experts to set in motion a revision of the policy regarding their catch.
Eng Cheasan, deputy director of Fisheries Department for the Ministry of Agriculture, said on Tuesday that officials have floated a new proposal to fine fishermen who don’t immediately turn over a rare giant catfish alive.
“There have been accidents when the [giant catfish] are caught, but the fishermen must release it according to the fisheries law,” he said. “We always encourage the release of the fish, but it’s been very difficult [to enforce].”
Zeb Hogan, a research biologist and the coordinator of a specialist group on the catfish for the Mekong Wetlands Biodiversity Program, said fishermen were previously compensated for the market value of the species if they could prove they had caught one and released it alive.
A reward of $25 was also previously paid to fishermen who handed over the carcass of a giant catfish to the Mekong Fish Conservation Project if one glided into their nets and died, Hogan said.
“[Government officials] are still trying to determine what the new policy and punishment will be,” said Hogan, adding that the decline of the catfish, due to over-fishing and development, may foreshadow the slow decline of environmental conditions throughout the Mekong river ecosystem.
Revamping the policy was prompted by the death of a 200 kg catfish that died Nov 9 after a fisherman in Kompong Cham province caught it in a bamboo snare and held it by a rope through its gills for over 20 hours.
The fisherman sold the meat to onlookers, according to Bun Chhay Hak, fishery chief for the province.
“Fortunately, Mekong giant catfish doesn’t fetch a very high price and a lot of people won’t eat it because they know that it’s endangered, because it’s illegal and also because it’s considered culturally taboo,” Hogan said. “And, reportedly, it doesn’t taste very good.”