The wild stock of the Mekong giant catfish are going to be driven to extinction if the hydropower dams planned for construction in the Mekong River get the go ahead, says a report recently released by the WWF (World Wildlife Fund)

The report, which was titled “River of Giants: Giant Fish of the Mekong”, writes on four of these giant catfish which make their home in the Mekong. They rank in the top 10 of biggest freshwater fish in the entire world. The Mekong River’s Giant freshwater stingray can be half the length of a bus, and weigh in at somewhere around 1,300 pounds and currently holds the title for world’s biggest freshwater fish. However, the Mekong giant catfish, now listed as critically endangered, ranks third being almost 10 feet long and weighs in at around 771 pounds.

The hydropower dam which is supposed to be constructed on the Mekong River at Sayabouly Province, northern Laos, is a serious threat to the survival of the wild stock of this magnificent catfish.

“A fish the size of a Mekong giant catfish cannot swim across a large barrier like the Sayabouly dam to reach its spawning grounds upstream,” explained the Director of WWF’s Greater Mekong Program, Dekila Chungyalpa, “Building this and other dams will lead to the collapse of the wild population of this iconic species.”

One can only hope that they put a stopper in this plan to dam up their home, and cause strife for this majestic animal.

Giant Mekong catfish. Copyright www.jjphoto.dk

According to Zeb Hogan, head of the National Geographic Society’s Megafishes Project, a new dam project planned for Khone Falls in Laos threatens the migration of the Mekong giant catfish. The largest Mekong giant catfish ever caught weighed in at an astonishing 293 kilograms (646 pounds), but the existence of this magnificent species is unfortunately threatened in the wild and it is currently listed as critically endangered by the World Conservation Union.

You can find out more by visiting National Geographic at http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/04/photogalleries/catfish-pictures/

The Mekong giant catfish inhabits the Mekong River Delta in South-East Asian and can be found not only in Laos, but also in nearby Cambodia. Earlier, the species lived in Thailand as well but it is now believed to have become completely eradicated from the Thai part of the Mekong River Delta. (It has however been introduced as a sport fish in a number of lakes in Thailand, so the species has not vanished completely from Thai waters.) The situation is critical for the populations in Laos and Cambodia as well and the new dam might worsen an already precarious situation. The primary threats against the Mekong giant catfish are habitat destruction, pollution and over fishing. You can find more information about the Mekong giant catfish here: http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/catfish/giantmekong.php