This presentation was delivered by Eric Baran, Tuantong Jutagate and Kithya Ouch at the Lancang – Mekong Environmental Study Workshop that took place at the 2016 Greater Mekong Forum on Water, Food and Energy. The presentation describes the status of fish biodiversity and fisheries between Chiang Saen and Luang Prabang.

1. FISH BIODIVERSITY
AND FISHERIES
BETWEEN CHIANG SAEN
AND LUANG PRABANG
Eric BARAN, Tuantong JUTAGATE, Natasha
SERRAO
2016 Greater Mekong Forum,
Bangkok, 9-11 November 2016

2. Target area: Mekong River
mainstream between the
Golden Triangle and
Nam Chi
Nam Mun

3. Due to fish migrations,
impacts in the mainstream
might extend to fish within
adjacent sub-basins
3
Nam Tha
Nam Mae Kham
Nam Mae Kok
Nam Mae Ing
Nam Ngeun
Nam Khan
Nam Suong
Nam Ou

4. Main sources of information (i):
Mainstream:
 MRC Mekong Fish Database 2003
 Meynell P.-J. 2003 Scoping study for
biodiversity assessment
of the Mekong River in northern Laos and
Thailand,
 Dubeau, P. (ed.) 2004 Follow-up survey
for biodiversity assessment of the Mekong
River in Northern Lao PDR,
IUCN Water and Nature Initiative and Mekong Wetlands Biodiversity
Conservation and Sustainable Use Programme, Bangkok, Thailand. 60 pp.
FISH BIODIVERSITY

5. 5

6. Main sources of information (ii):
Sub-basins:
 MRC Mekong Fish Database 2003
 Bin Kang, Daming He, Perrett L., Hongyuan Wang, Wenxian Hu; Weide Deng,
Yunfei Wu 2009 Fish and fisheries in the Upper Mekong: current assessment of the
fish community, threats and conservation. Rev Fish Biol Fisheries 19:465–480.
 Warren T.J., Thavone Phommavong 2010. Nam Ou cascade environment impact
assessment: fisheries and aquatic resources (F&AR) component. Draft report (V2) for
Earth System Lao (ESL) for submission to Sinohydro Corporation Ltd. 103 pp.
 Kottelat M. 2009. Fishes of the upper Nam Ou drainage in Laos. WWF, Community
Fisheries: supporting food security and aquatic biodiversity (ComFish Project),
Vientiane, Lao PDR. 27 pp.

7. 7
Taxonomic update:
www.fishbase.org / Tools / Match names

8. 8
Fish species richness
Cyprinidae, 88
Cobitidae, 16Pangasiidae, 14
Bagridae, 11
Siluridae, 11
Osphronemidae,
7
Channidae, 5
Families (31) with
<5 species, 56
208 fish species are found within the study area
These 208 species are comprised of 38 families, of which
minnows/carps, loaches and catfishes have the highest diversity
Loaches
Catfishes
Minnows and
Carps

9. 0
50
100
150
200
NumberofSpecies9
The 208 species are comprised of 157 indigenous, 7 endemic, and 7
introduced species. Mekong endemics make up 3.4% of the total species but
none of the endemic species is specific to the study side.
194
7 7

10. 10
Cyprinidae (minnows, carps, barbs)
Largest family in the Mekong with 25% of
the fish species.
Account for most of the fisheries yield in
the Mekong Basin especially during their
seasonal migrations and are very important
for aquaculture.
Many are popular and economically
valuable.
Most species are generalists; feed on a
mixture of invertebrates, organic debris
and plants.
42%

11. 11
Cobitidae (loaches)
Small fish; at least 27 species from the
Mekong.
Have spines under the eyes that allow
them to wedge themselves in rock
crevices. Loaches are also capable of
burying themselves very quickly in
sand or gravel.
Some loaches are highly migratory
and seasonally important in local
fisheries.
8%

12. 12
7%
Pangasiidae (pangas catfishes)
Medium to large fish; 250 cm for the
Mekong giant catfish.
Many pangas undertake long
migrations in the Mekong mainstream
They are a popular foodfish, and are
very important in both the capture
fisheries and aquaculture in the Lower
and Middle Mekong Basin.
Their feeding habits are very variable
depending on species, includes; fruits,
invertebrates, fish, algae

13. 13
5%
Bagridae (bagrid catfishes)
Small to medium sized widely distributed
fishes
Some of the larger species are migratory
Very important food fishes throughout the
Mekong Basin
Feed mainly on benthic invertebrates.

14. 14
5%
Siluridae (sheat catfishes)
Medium to large sized fishes; found
throughout the Mekong
Highly important in the Mekong fisheries
and at least one species (Wallago attu) is
known to be an excellent gamefish.
Some sheatfishes are pelagic, and they
feed on invertebrates and fishes.

15. 0.0
10.0
20.0
30.0
40.0
50.0
% of sp in Mekong
% of sp in study zone
Within the Mekong, the section studied is specific by its diversity in
Cyprinids, loaches and catfishes

17. 19
There are very few specific studies of fisheries between the Golden
Triangle and Luang Prabang
FISHERIES
Capture fisheries in the mainstream from China to Chiang Saen
The upper Mekong Basin in China produces around 25,000 tonnes a year
(Xie and Li 2003). This low production is explained by the fact that the river
flows in deep gorges, with a subsequent low productivity (no floodplains) and
that population density along banks is very low. C
Capture fisheries in this zone employed about 15,000 persons in 2002

18. 20
Capture fisheries in the mainstream between Chiang Saen and Vientiane
In 2010 fishing was not officially considered as a significant activity. People
on the Mekong river banks do fish for household consumption, but this goes
unrecorded in district or provincial level statistics and not reflected in social
development plans.
MRC study of fish consumption and catch (Sjorslev et al. 2000) → total fish
catch of 10,000 to 14,000 tonnes per in Luangprabang Province
MRC SEA 2010: Population x estimated annual consumption → 29,000
tonnes consumed (70%) + 20% sold + 10% in kind. → 41,000 tonnes/year
Barlow et al. (2008) → 60,000 tonnes/year
Conclusion: annual yield between 40,000 and 60,000 tonnes/year

19. 21
In general, fishery activities from Xieng Kok to Huay Xai is less
prevalent than from Huay Xai to Luang Prabang, due to the scarcity of
villages in this section
Also, strong water currents occurring in the upper part of Mekong deter
fishing.
In this sub-section, only a few people fish in the Mekong River, while
the majority fish in smaller tributaries, backswamps and ponds where
fish are easier to catch.
The main reason why the Mekong is not widely fished is that villagers
cannot afford the upfront investment to acquire the necessary gear for
fishing in the main river.

20. Example Key Amphibians (S. Phimmachak &
B. Stuart)
Quasipaa
sp.
Ophryophryne cf.
microstoma
Leptolalax
minimus
Leptobrachium
smithi
Amolops
cremnobatus
Rhacophorus
kio

21. Example Key Reptiles (S. Phimmachak & B.
Stuart)
Tropidophorus laotus Cyrtodactylus
interdigitalis
Physignathus
cocincinus
Python
reticulatus
Lycodon laoensis Opisthotropis
durandi

22. 24
Thanks for your attention