540 fish species found in the Mekong basin

At the workshop on 'Diversifying Fish Species in the Mekong Basin and Chao Phraya,' held at Can Tho University on February 24, the Japan Natural Environment Fund (Nagao) announced for the first time 540 fish species live in the Mekong basin.

Giant fish in the Mekong basin

The results were carried out by a five-year study of the ' People, Ecosystems and Rational Use of Natural Resources in the Mekong and Chao Phraya Basin ' projects, by the Natural Environment Fund. Japan (Nagao) support.

Of the 540 species of fish recorded in the Mekong basin, 67 of them were first discovered living in the Mekong basin and 21 species have never been described and were first recorded on world.

The research results also divided fish species living in the Mekong River basin into 3 types: giant fish species, very small fish species (1cm) and common species. Of the three types, the giant types of fish that live in the Mekong basin are facing extinction.

To protect the giant fish from extinction, the Japan Natural Environment Fund said that it is necessary to quickly create artificial insemination, nourish it and then release it to nature to recreate the population. To do this, multinational conservation cooperation on the Mekong basin is required.

The project " People, ecosystems and the rational use of natural resources in the Mekong and Chao Phraya river basins ", is carried out in four countries under the Mekong River Commission including Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. from 2007 to the end of 2010.