What freshwater fish do you think will go extinct soon?
- Thread starter Kingdoffishcraft
- Start date
Adding to this thread.
Do you believe that monster fish are becoming smaller. I've heard stories and seen photos of 300kg mekong giant catfish and 120kg+ siamese barbs but haven't heard from any specimens cought as of late. Same with the alligator gars that can supposedly grow to 10ft. Do you guys think that its because of lack of food and time or have the big genes been weeded out. But for the gar is it just old stories that extend the truth?
Do you believe that monster fish are becoming smaller. I've heard stories and seen photos of 300kg mekong giant catfish and 120kg+ siamese barbs but haven't heard from any specimens cought as of late. Same with the alligator gars that can supposedly grow to 10ft. Do you guys think that its because of lack of food and time or have the big genes been weeded out. But for the gar is it just old stories that extend the truth?
The question isn’t what freshwater fish will go extinct soon, the real question is what freshwater fish are going to be left in the future. With the way human population and consumption continue to increase the reality will likely be almost none. Only the hardiest, most fecund fish are going to exist in the future unless there is some dramatic change in these population and consumption trends. Most likely it will be the same dozen, perhaps few dozen fish occupying all of the worlds waterways as well, introduced by humans and outcompeting whatever remnant populations of native fish that managed to survive the onslaught of pollution, dams, canals and overfishing.
For Mekong catfish I think it is matter of inadequate diet, they can't digest terrestrial plants as well as Barbs or Gouramis so aquaculture feed don't benefit them as much and I have asked person who work in fishery and she tell me that average size is 1.2 m which is much smaller than expected.
Animals kept as pet or for fishing pond get much larger though,100+kg is not uncommon at all with few 200+ kg every now and then but I doubt any get to the 300kg as environment of large migratory fishes just can't replicated so easily.
120kg Giant barb is still a real possibility though they can grow to 90+ kg on regular basis in fishing pond after all, maybe with larger pond and low stocking density 120 kg could be archived. (I doubt that is their max size though.)
