KUALA TERENGGANU: The Mekong Giant Catfish is among a variety of fish species that will be placed in Kenyir Lake as part of the state government’s initiative to replenish the lake.
Other species include the snakehead fish and Tinfoil Barbs, commonly known as lampan. The lake is being stocked up for the Kenyir Cup fishing competition next month.
Menteri Besar Datuk Ahmad Said said replenishing the lake would cost RM400,000.
“The Mekong Giant Catfish will be able to survive in the lake. We will be replenishing the lake from time to time to turn Kenyir Lake into a fishing haven,” he said after chairing the weekly state executive council meeting here yesterday.
The Mekong Giant Catfish or “Pangasianodon gigas”, can be found in the lower half of the Mekong River and in the Chao Praya River in Thailand.
It is said that the fish can grow up to 3m in length and reach a mass of 150 to 200kg in six years.
However, the species is in danger of extinction primarily due to over-fishing.
Ahmad did not specify the number of Mekong Giant Catfish that would be brought in.
The inaugural Kenyir Cup fishing competition in Tasik Kenyir between Oct 2 and Oct 6 is expected to attract 300 anglers from all over the world.
Source: nst.com.my
So what do you think of the above? Introducing another alien fish into the wild albeit from the neighbor country? Good or bad?
next there will be SAILFISH competition…. MKH.
What will they think of next.
Sorry to burst your bubble boss but that is already happening.
Good thing is they practice Catch & release.
why should they put in the alien fish. why not they just control n try to restock the local fish. we have great n well known giant snakehead n patin…..
why….. why?????
You are so right my angler friend.
They could just stock up Kenyir with native species such as Patin, Tapah (which is among the largest freshwater fish in the world) and the magnificent Temoleh just to name a few.
It’s really a no brainer!
Thanks for sharing your comment and tight lines.