Vientiane Times, 19 Feb 2009

An estimated 250kg giant catfish (Pangasianodon gigus) was caught in
Salao village, Phonthong district, Champassak province, on Saturday
night at 11pm by a local fisherman, provincial authorities confirmed
on Wednesday.

Witnesses said the endangered giant catfish (paa beuk) was sold to
traders in Champassak province. According to witnesses, it was loaded
onto a bus bound for Vientiane on Sunday but its whereabouts are
currently unknown. At this stage it cannot be confirmed whether the
fish arrived in the capital.

Fishery experts said the giant catfish is listed as critically
endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.
It is likely to face extinction if comprehensive protective measures
are not taken.

Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry Office Head, Dr Bounthong
Bouahom, said the Lao law on Wildlife and Aquatic Species explicitly
bans the catching or trade of paa beuk in an attempt to protect it.

“Those who violate the law will be fined a minimum of 200,000 kip.
They will also serve a jail sentence of at least three months and up
to five years,” he said.

Head of the Champassak provincial Department of Agriculture and
Forestry’s Fishery Division, Mr Bounkeut Khamphithak, said the
fisherman caught the fish unintentionally.

“The fisherman concerned told us the fish was nearly dead. If he had
released it the fish would have soon died so he took it. In my
opinion, he should have released the fish, otherwise he risks
violating the law.”

Champassak provincial authorities held a meeting yesterday to discuss
the incident and are preparing a report for higher authorities in
Vientiane .

They also discussed the idea of setting up areas in deep ponds of the
Mekong for the conservation of endangered fish species.

An advisor for the World Wildlife Fund for Nature’s (WWF) Community
Fisheries Project in Laos , Mr Roger Mollot, said the giant catfish
was widely caught by fishermen in the 1980s. The population collapsed
during the 1990s due to over-fishing.

He said the number of catches recorded each year had declined ever
since.

The total population is estimated to be no greater than a few hundred
worldwide but the species is endemic to the Mekong basin.

” Mekong basin countries can only continue to benefit from the giant
catfish by understanding, monitoring and managing the population,” he
said.

Legal protection, whilst encouraging, will alone not be sufficient to
ensure population stabilisation.

“There is a need to develop greater technical capacity and awareness
in Laos to support the legal agreements protecting the giant catfish,”
Mr Mollot said.

There is no formal recording system in Champassak province. Non-
government organisations have asked fishermen to report if they
accidentally catch giant catfish.

Formal recording and monitoring of the population has taken place only
in Bokeo province, following cooperation between Lao and Thai
authorities.

Catches are more predictable in Bokeo as there is a well defined
‘catching season’, and evidence of intent on the part of fishermen.
The giant catfish has cultural and ceremonial importance in northern
Laos . In other Lao provinces paa beuk is typically a ‘by-catch’,
caught entirely unintentionally.

Last year, a villager caught a giant catfish in the Sadam channel in
Siphandone. This is the second recently recorded case of paa beuk
having been caught in Champassak province, but recorded cases are
relatively rare.

In 2007 a dispute over giant catfish in Bokeo province ensued
following the decision of a Thai provincial authority to allow
fishermen to catch the fish. Lao authorities had already introduced a
ban. The decision was soon reversed and international agreements are
now in place offering the fish legal protection.