200 Fish Species In Thailand Face Extinction

April 1, 2005

Release from: Xinhua

More than 200 species of fish in Thailand have been on the edge of extinction, said the kingdom's Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning (ONREPP).

Fish were on the front line of a list produced by the office, which included extincting species of the Thailand.

"[Fish] are in a more worrying condition than some big animals, as they are easily spotted and are hunted in various ways by people," newspaper Nation on Friday quoted Chavalit Vidtayanont, head of the World Wildlife Fund's Thailand Marine and Freshwater Unit, as saying.

The extincting fish include sawfish, whale sharks, napoleons, the common silver barb and the Mekong giant catfish etc.

In Thailand, 90 percent of the locations studied, home to 269 species of fish (133 sea fish and 136 freshwater fish), were under threat, according to Chavalit.

Fish most at risk were those with high economic value, particularly sawfish, giant catfish and stingrays, he said.

Conservationists also urged the government to shelve its plan to build a road skirting the Gulf of Thailand from Bangkok to the southern peninsula.

The route would place even more species of fish at risk of extinction, said Chavalit.