Sustaining the last wild population Mekong catfish
Reduce incidental fishing mortality through community engagement, incident reporting and release.
Mekong Giant catfish (Pangasianodon gigas)
Grant Number:
252540517
Awarded Amount:
24500
Continent:
Asia
Country:
Cambodia
Awarded Date:
22/12/2025
The Mekong giant catfish is Critically Endangered, with Cambodia likely supporting the last self-sustaining wild population. A two-decade dataset shows a long-term population decline, primarily due to incidental capture from non-selective fishing gear along migration routes. In late 2024 and early 2025, over twenty individuals were incidentally captured in six weeks, revealing a bottleneck and a critical opportunity to reduce broodstock mortality as they migrate to spawning areas.
The project focuses on the Cambodian Mekong from Phnom Penh to Kratie, a 200-kilometer migration corridor, with a core zone extending fifty kilometers upstream and downstream of Kampong Cham. Key objectives include:
- Reducing incidental fishing mortality through community agreements, rapid reporting, and legal awareness.
- Monitoring to verify results and replicate efforts in other communities.
Work will prioritize twenty communities along this corridor to establish incident reporting and release protocols, deploy teams to reduce capture mortality, and train fishers, local authorities, and students in safe handling and legal protections. This corridor approach connects existing protected areas in the Tonle Sap floodplains with upstream conservation zones, enhancing survival during a critical life stage.
