World's biggest fish threatened by dams, WWF says

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38435722/ns/world_news-world_environment/

10-feet-long catfish threatened by dams, WWF says
Giant stingrays and barbs also cited in report on Asia's Mekong River

Four of the world's 10 largest freshwater fish species � including a
catfish that can reach 10 feet long � are threatened with extinction
if hydropower dams planned on Asia's Mekong River go ahead, the World
Wildlife Fund warned in a report Tuesday.

Of particular concern is the Mekong giant catfish, which is already
listed as critically endangered.

"A fish the size of a Mekong giant catfish cannot swim across a large
barrier (like a dam) ... to reach its spawning grounds upstream,"
Dekila Chungyalpa, WWF's Greater Mekong Program director, said in a
statement. Such dams, he said, "will lead to the collapse of the wild
population of this iconic species."

The catfish are thought to migrate from the Tonle Sap Lake in Cambodia
up the Mekong River to spawn in northern Thailand and Laos, WWF said.

The three other freshwater fish species profiled in the WWF report are:

* The Mekong giant stingray, which can be as long as half a bus.
Fishermen have claimed to have seen stingrays that weigh more than
1,100 pounds, but none that large has ever been caught;
* The so-called dog-eating catfish, given that nickname by
fishermen who have caught it using dog meat as bait; and
* The giant barb, Cambodia's national fish.

At over 600 pounds, the dog-eating catfish and the giant barb, which
is part of the carp family, tie for fifth place on the global top ten,
WWF said.

Dams would also reduce sediment flowing to the Mekong River Delta,
increasing the delta's vulnerability to sea level rise, WWF added.

"The Lower Mekong is currently free-flowing but the clock is ticking,"
Chungyalpa said. "We have a rare opportunity to conserve these
freshwater giants and ensure the livelihoods of millions of people who
live along the Mekong mainstream."

The Mekong originates in the Tibetan Plateau and flows to southeast
Asia through Yunnan, China. It is the lifeblood for 65 million people
in six countries � Cambodia, China, Laos, Thailand, Myanmar and Vietnam.
________________________________________________

You received this message as a subscriber on the list: dams@list.internationalrivers.org

To be removed from the list, please visit:
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2486/unsubscribe.jsp