The 150kg strange fish caught on Co Chien River is an extinct fish in Vietnam

150kg strange fish caught by fishermen on Co Chien River is Minh Hai, a fish that seems to be extinct in Vietnam.

On the evening of 14/5, a fisherman was Mr. Phan Van Thai (49 years old, residing in Phu Phung commune, Cho Lach district, Ben Tre) dropping nets on Co Chien river (in Thanh Thoi A commune, Mo Cay Nam district, Ben Tre) the strange fish caught the net. He and many other people struggled to get the fish up and bring the fish home.

The fish is black, about 2.2m long, estimated to weigh about 150kg but nobody knows what fish. Many people believe that this is a freshwater dolphin; some other people called Nam Hai dugongs or rat dolphins.

Fishermen caught 150kg strange fish on Co Chien River.(Photo: Thanh Nien).

On May 15, a delegation of officials from the Center for Conservation of Biodiversity and Endangered Species came to meet Mr. Thai's family to determine what kind of fish and expressed his wish to bring the fish to study, but Mr. Thai did not agree. .

The opinion is that if the Thai fish caught is rat dolphin, it is an extremely rare species.

Regarding the incident, the reporter, Master Vu Long, Director of the Center for Conservation of Biodiversity and Endangered Species (CBES), affirmed that it is Minh Hai dugong, a species thought to be extinct in Vietnam. Male.

Dolphins (Orcaella brevirostris) l is a mammal of the Dolphin family Delphinidae, living along the coast and estuaries in Southeast Asia, found on the Irrawaddy river in Myanmar, Mahakam river in Indonesia, and Mekong River in Cambodia as well as Vietnam. A number of documents called by the English translation are Irrawaddy dolphins . However, this species is present in Vietnam and is identified as Minh Hai dug or dugong . Now this dolphin is in danger of extinction.

Master Long said that strange fish caught by fishermen on Co Chien River is Minh Hai, a fish that seems to be extinct in Vietnam.(Photo: Thanh Nien).

Long said: "In the past 30 years, experts have no longer recorded cases of dugong in Vietnam. I assess that finding dugongs in Co Chien river is information. very important, shocking, need an extensive research and investigation, this species is thought to be extinct in Vietnam ".

The dugong fish found by the fishermen on Co Chien River are females, old and their teeth have fallen out.

At the same time, at midnight on May 15, Mr. Long and his colleagues and officials in Phu Phung commune tried to persuade fishermen to hand over dead (dug) fish, however, Mr. Thai insisted on selling dugong.

The fish found in Co Chien are females, old and their teeth are gone.(Photo: Thanh Nien).

"We cannot afford to buy fish, although it is for scientific research purposes. It is prohibited, criminally handled. We are also worried that the fishermen themselves have not been aware of it yet. be aware of this.

Dugongs are protected in CITES, not allowed to buy and sell, exchange in any form. In order to support fishermen, we can only make up for a little bit of money called petrol and fishing equipment, ' said Long.

Currently, Master Long can only take 2 DNA samples, and at the same time report to the Directorate of Fisheries and the Department of Biodiversity Conservation on discovering dugongs on Co Chien River.