Giant Mekong Catfish, weighing 292kg that was caught by local fishermen in Chiang Khong, northern Thailand Photo: EPA.
The Mekong River at the Golden Triangle or where the Mekong river confluence meets with three nations of Laos, Myanmar and Thailand Photo: EPA The construction of a particular dam in northern Laos would disrupt the migration of four of the world’s top ten largest freshwater species to crucial spawning grounds, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) said. In its report River Giants: Giant Fish of the Mekong, WWF said the catfish that grow up to 350kgs (772lbs) and freshwater stringray that can weigh in at 600kgs (1,320lbs), would be threatened with extinction if the plans go-ahead.
China has already completed four hydro-power dams on the Mekong, while another 11 are being built or planned in Laos, Thailand and Cambodia. Other smaller dams are proposed along its tributaries. The Mekong is south-east Asia’s longest river, rising in Tibet and flowing through southern China, Burma, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam before reaching the South China Sea. But WWF’s most pressing concern in the hydropower plant planned for Sayabouly province, in Laos, which boasts ambitious plans to supply electricity to south-east Asia in an effort to become the battery of the region. The elusive giant catfish swims from Cambodia’s Tonle Sap Lake up the Mekong to breed in Laos and northern Thailand. A fish the size of a Mekong giant catfish simply will not be able to swim across a large barrier like a dam to reach its spawning grounds upstream, said Roger Mollot, a freshwater biologist for WWF in Laos. Yet the river plays also host to a many unique fish including the vast stingray the world’s biggest freshwater fish a giant barb and dog-eating catfish, so-called because of its pension for dog carcasses. More giant fish live in the Mekong than any other river on earth, said Dang Thuy Trang, co-ordinator for WWF’s Greater Mekong Programme. Currently, the lower Mekong remains free-flowing, which presents a rare opportunity for the conservation of these species, but the clock is ticking. The plans for the new dam are currently under scrutiny by the Mekong River Commission an international body made up of Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. But WWF is urging it to veto the plan on the grounds of its effects on the wildlife, fishing and agriculture in the region.
30th July 2010. Today I have been working on the both home pages, and have been working on the World Record Fish in both 1280x and 1024x resolution parts of the website. he 1280x part has been completed, and the 1024 is still being worked on, the reason they have takes a long while is because they have all had changes made to the program code in order for the pages to load quicker.
I have checked the Email, and will do another check later on the Email, and the Forum.
29th July 2010. Today I have been working on both the homepages and quite a few other pages also, in order to remove the Language support and make the pages run even faster. I should have a new picture on here much later on, or tomorrow. For today I will be working on the most important pages throughout the site relating to analytical statistics. Also there is no worry about the amount of visitors being less, thats due to the school summer holidays and often does this.
I have checked the Email, and will do another check later on the Email, and the Forum.
The Online Shop now has approx' 450 page views per day, so thats looking good. I will find some more stuff to put in the Online Store soon, but really it would be better if you guys let me know what sort of things you are after. At present it has a approx': 850 items for sale.
1st July 2010: I have checked the sites analytics, and am pleased to say the site is visited by 146 Countries. No change from June.
Have you got any pictures to do with fishing, you would like to upload to the site? They do not have to be right up to date, as long as you know what date roughly you caught them, then that will be ok. Norfolk Fishing Network not only supports Norfolk, but any other place in the World also now. If you don't see your County or Country in the picture Archive, send me a picture with the details of the fishery where you caught your fish, and if caught outside the UK, your Country, County/Province/area; with details of the fish, weight, type? If possible what bait and setup you used. In return I will make a section for your Country, right down to your town/city.
