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A12 science
Wednesday 22 June 2022

Cambodian catches world's largest

recorded freshwater fish

cies of giant freshwater fish
but environmental pres-
sures are rising. In particu-
lar, scientists fear a major
program of dam building
in recent years may be se-
riously disrupting spawning
grounds.
"Big fish globally are en-
dangered. They're high-
value species. They take a
long time to mature. So if
they're fished before they
mature, they don't have
a chance to reproduce,"
In this photo provided by Wonders of the Mekong taken on Hogan said. "A lot of these
June 14, 2022, a man touches a giant freshwater stingray before big fish are migratory, so
being released back into the Mekong River in the northeastern they need large areas to
province of Stung Treng, Cambodia. survive. They're impacted
Associated Press
by things like habitat frag-
By JERRY HARMER within hours of getting a mentation from dams, ob-
Associated Press post-midnight call with the viously impacted by over-
BANGKOK (AP) — The news, and were amazed fishing. So about 70% of
world's largest recorded at what they saw. giant freshwater fish glob-
freshwater fish, a giant "Yeah, when you see a fish ally are threatened with
stingray, has been caught this size, especially in fresh- extinction, and all of the
in the Mekong River in water, it is hard to compre- Mekong species."
Cambodia, according to hend, so I think all of our The team that rushed to
scientists from the South- team was stunned," Won- the site inserted a tagging
east Asian nation and the ders of the Mekong leader device near the tail of the
United States. Zeb Hogan said in an on- mighty fish before releas-
The stingray, captured on line interview from the Uni- ing it. The device will send
June 13, measured almost versity of Nevada in Reno. tracking information for
4 meters (13 feet) from The university is partnering the next year, providing
snout to tail and weighed with the Cambodian Fish- unprecedented data on
slightly under 300 kilograms eries Administration and giant stingray behavior in
(660 pounds), according USAID, the U.S. govern- Cambodia.
to a statement Monday by ment's international devel- "The giant stingray is a very
Wonders of the Mekong, opment agency. Freshwa- poorly understood fish.
a joint Cambodian-U.S. re- ter fish are defined as those Its name, even its scien-
search project. that spend their entire lives tific name, has changed
The previous record for a in freshwater, as opposed several times in the last
freshwater fish was a 293-ki- to giant marine species 20 years," Hogan said. "It's
logram (646-pound) Me- such as bluefin tuna and found throughout South-
kong giant catfish, discov- marlin, or fish that migrate east Asia, but we have al-
ered in Thailand in 2005, between fresh and saltwa- most no information about
the group said. ter like the huge beluga it. We don't know about its
The stingray was snagged sturgeon. "The fact that the life history. We don't know
by a local fisherman south fish can still get this big is about its ecology, about its
of Stung Treng in northeast- a hopeful sign for the Me- migration patters."
ern Cambodia. The fish- kong River, " Hogan said, Researchers say it's the
erman alerted a nearby noting that the waterway fourth giant stingray re-
team of scientists from the faces many environmental ported in the same area in
Wonders of the Mekong challenges. The Mekong the past two months, all of
project, which has publi- River runs through China, them females. They think
cized its conservation work Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, this may be a spawning
in communities along the Cambodia and Vietnam. hotspot for the species.
river. The scientists arrived It is home to several spe- Local residents nicknamed
the stingray "Boramy," or
"full moon," because of its
round shape and because
the moon was on the ho-
rizon when it was freed on
June 14. In addition to the
honor of having caught
the record-breaker, the
lucky fisherman was com-
pensated at market rate,
meaning he received a
payment of around $600.q