Is There New Hope for Thailand's Giant Catfish or Pla Buek in Thailand? Those Giant catfish can only be found in the Mekong River in the region of Chiang Khong Thailand.
Fishers along the the Mekong River in the village of Chiang Khong in the North of Thailand are awaiting the arrival of the Giant Catfish or "Pla Buek" as their ancestors also have done since hundreds of years. But this year the giant fish are not coming.
Called "Pla Buek" in Thai, these catfish (Pangasianodon gigas) can weigh up to 300 kg. and measure up to 2,5 meters in length, being the biggest, scaleless freshwater fish in the world.
These giant catfish can only be found in the Mekong River in the region of Chiang Khong Thailand during their spawn period before they return to their home grounds in the wetlands of the lower Mekong and the area of Ton Le Sap in Cambodia.
As all catfish, the Pla Buek is a bottom feeder, living from algae and other aquatic plants. The Mekong river near Chiang Khong with it's whirlpool of rapids is the only area of the Mekong river that the giant catfish use as spawning grounds.
These giant catfish are considered sacred by the Thai people, and special ceremonies are performed to seek permission from the Water Spirits and other higher beings to obtain permission to capture these sacred "Pla Buek" giants.
Annually a festival takes place in Chiang Khong to restore the old customs of the Pla Buek fishing season. The festival features a beauty contest, boat races between Thai and Lao villagers plus an abundance of local Thai food and plenty of drinks. Visitors to Chiang Rai or Chiang Mai should visit Chiang Khong during this period and maybe even try a dish with the magical meat of this sacred giant fish.
It's an old Thai belief that who eats the meat of the giant catfish will have a long and prosperous life. Thai and Thai-Chinese people from Bangkok easily pay up to 1,000 Baht (20-25 US$) for 1 Kg. of Pla Buek fish. It was reported in the Bangkok Post in 1997 that one giant catfish could bring in between 50,000 to 100,000 Baht depending on its weight.
The giant catfish is in danger of disappearing from Thailand. Treats for the survival of the giant catfish are: Commercial fishing, organized fishing trips for foreign tourists, the beliefs in the magical powers of eating Pla Buek, but most of all by the dynamite blasting of the natural spawning ground. This blasting project is part of the navigation channel improvements of the Mekong river, planned by the governments of China, Burma, Thailand, and the Lao People's Democratic Republic.
Currently, the Mekong giant catfish is listed as endangered by the World Conservation Union (IUCN) and is in the process of being re-designated as critically endangered.
But fishing is a way of life for the people of the Mekong River Basin and the loss of this activity means for many villagers a loss of their income, their food security and local economic system.
Many previous efforts by the Thai government to increase the number of giant catfish in the Mekong river in Thailand consisted of obtaining sperm and eggs from mature catfish then inject this into young female catfish before releasing them back into the river.
But these efforts have been "in vain", as the Thailand's Fisheries Department has so far released more than 100,000 young fish back into the Mekong river over the last years with about half of them being tagged, but no tagged fish has ever been reported caught.
Nowadays, Thailand's Fisheries Department reports that after many years of failed attempts, they have successfully learned how to breed the giant catfish in captivity. The approximately 70,000 young fish produced by this achievement will be distributed to fishery stations around the region to be used as breeding stock.
Since 1990 the Thai Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry has banned fishing of the giant catfish between April and June when mature fish migrate to lay eggs. Environmentalists maintain that neither fishermen nor Fisheries Department officials observe the ban.
