In the Golden Triangle of northern Thailand, project biologists have established a network of over two dozen fishermen to help track the migration of the giant fish of the Mekong. They hope to discover the fish’s spawning grounds and other behavior critical to the fish’s survival. Together with the Thai Department of Fisheries and the Mekong Giant Catfish Fishermen’s Club, the MegaFishes Project bought, tagged, and released a Mekong giant catfish in honor of the king of Thailand’s 60th anniversary of his ascension to the throne. In addition, there was a net buy back in Thailand in June 2006. This was timed around the annual ceremony to worship the “giant catfish god” and done in honor of the king. Fishermen from Chiang Khong agreed to stop fishing for giant catfish and put 68 fishing nets, worth over 1.3 million baht ($34,000 USD), on sale as a symbol of their commitment.
2006 Project Results - Thailand
December 9th, 2006 · 2 Comments
Tags: Project Results · Thailand
2 responses so far ↓
1 Jules // Jul 15, 2008 at 11:10 pm
I hope the moratorium on commercial fishing of the Mekong is upheld. It would be a great day when one again their are Giant Mekong Catfish in abundance in the river.
Recreational catch and releaseFishing in Thailand may yet prove to be an alternative soruce of income for locals. Lets hope so.
2 Shawn // Jul 22, 2008 at 2:22 am
I’ve been working with the Chinese power company developing dams on the Mekong, helping them identify and conserve the most unique species of fish in the Mekong. We have identified the Buyuan River, as apotential terminal spawning habitat for GMC. The Buyuan is the first major tributary, upstream of Mengsong in Yunnan Province, where the river begins to transform from the high gradient mountains to the lower gradient, warmer sub-tropical lowlands. We may be searching this area in the near future - what are you thoughts on this possibility? Perhaps we can link up for a search next spawning season. Please contact me off line to discuss.
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