Piranha infestation feared in Vietnam's Mekong Delta
HANOI - Environmental officials in Vietnam are sounding alarms over the new fad of breeding piranhas in the Mekong Delta, saying
the flesh-eating fish could spell ecological disaster if they escape into rivers during the next flood season.
'What we now fear most is with the flooding season coming is that these fish may get out of the ponds and into the rivers,' said
Pham Huu Khanh, head of Cat Tien National Park's department of science and technology.
'With their astonishing survival ability and breeding rate they would multiply and kill many, if not all, other species in the rivers,'
Khanh said Monday.
He said he has visited several fishing farms in Dong Nai province and positively identified that the fish being bred there are piranhas -
though other officials said they were another kind of fish.Another official from the Agriculture Department of the southern province of
Dong Nai also said the fish were of the piranha species, and expressed concern about raising the flesh-eating fish that can strip an
animal carcass bare in a matter of minutes.
'We don't recommend raising this kind of fish,' said Le Duc Hong, an agricultural official from the province directly northeast of Ho
Chi Minh City.
Deutsche Presse Agentur - June 23, 2003
|