From Staple Food to Scarce Resource: The Population Status of an Endangered Striped Catfish Pangasianodon hypothalamus in the Mekong River, Cambodia

Sothearith Soem, Zeb S. Hogan, Bunyeth Chan, Samol Chhuoy, Sophorn Uy, Kakada Pin, Bunthang Touch, Sudeep Chandra and Peng Bun Ngor ()
Additional contact information
Sothearith Soem: Faculty of Fisheries and Aquaculture, Royal University of Agriculture, Phnom Penh P.O. Box 2696, Cambodia
Zeb S. Hogan: Wonders of the Mekong Project, c/o Faculty of Fisheries and Aquaculture, Royal University of Agriculture, Phnom Penh P.O. Box 2696, Cambodia
Bunyeth Chan: Wonders of the Mekong Project, c/o Faculty of Fisheries and Aquaculture, Royal University of Agriculture, Phnom Penh P.O. Box 2696, Cambodia
Samol Chhuoy: Faculty of Fisheries and Aquaculture, Royal University of Agriculture, Phnom Penh P.O. Box 2696, Cambodia
Sophorn Uy: Faculty of Fisheries and Aquaculture, Royal University of Agriculture, Phnom Penh P.O. Box 2696, Cambodia
Kakada Pin: Faculty of Fisheries and Aquaculture, Royal University of Agriculture, Phnom Penh P.O. Box 2696, Cambodia
Bunthang Touch: Inland Fisheries Research and Development Institute, Fisheries Administration, Phnom Penh P.O. Box 1176, Cambodia
Sudeep Chandra: Wonders of the Mekong Project, c/o Faculty of Fisheries and Aquaculture, Royal University of Agriculture, Phnom Penh P.O. Box 2696, Cambodia
Peng Bun Ngor: Faculty of Fisheries and Aquaculture, Royal University of Agriculture, Phnom Penh P.O. Box 2696, Cambodia

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 11, 1-13

Abstract: Striped catfish Pangasianodon hypopthalmus (Sauvage, 1878) is a flagship catfish species of the Mekong River region, a commercially valuable food fish that is important in freshwater fisheries, and a popular aquaculture species in many Asian countries. The species was assessed as “Endangered” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) due to range contraction and declining abundance, though the status of the species’ wild population in Cambodia, a critical habitat for the species, is not well understood. Here, we assess the population status of the striped catfish in Cambodia using multiple sources, including time-series catch data and length frequency distribution data from a commercial fishery (stationary trawl bagnet or dai ) operated in the Tonle Sap River from 1998/99 to 2017/18 and larval drift data monitored in the Mekong River in Phnom Penh from 2004 to 2018. We found that there was a significant decline (R 2 = 0.54, p = 0.0002) in the catch (metric tonnes) of the striped catfish from the commercial dai fishery over the last two decades. Similarly, length-based indicator analysis indicates that striped catfish mean length and abundance have both declined over the study period, raising concerns about the sustainability of river catfish fisheries. Moreover, long-term larval drift monitoring in Mekong River shows that there was a marginally significant decline in the quantity of striped catfish larvae/juvenile drifting downstream to the lower floodplain over the last decade. Changes in flood index (extent and duration of flood) in the Tonle Sap floodplain affected by the Mekong’s flow are likely key factors driving the decline of the wild populations of the striped catfish. Both larval fish abundance and floodplain fish harvests have a significant positive relationship with Mekong flow and flood extent. Indiscriminate fishing exacerbates pressures on striped catfish stocks. Therefore, actions such as maintaining natural seasonal flows (flood timing, extent, and duration) to the Tonle Sap floodplain and protecting migratory fish stocks from overharvest and habitat fragmentation are essential to the persistence of stocks of striped catfish and other large-bodied migratory fishes that utilize both the Cambodian Mekong and Tonle Sap floodplains.

Keywords: population trend; length distribution; size structure; length-based indicator; dai fishery; fish larvae; flood index; endangered species; Pangasiid; biodiversity conservation; Indochina (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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