In the United States, the alligator gar, another air-breathing megafish, was once largely considered a “trash fish” thought to devour game fish, so it was systematically exterminated from much of its southern range. But stricter fishing regulations introduced by Indigenous communities appear to have led to populations’ rebounding in many places.Īrapaima, found in South America, are often over 200 pounds and can grow much larger. The arapaima, a torpedo-shaped giant that can grow to lengths of more than 12 feet, has long been overharvested by fishers in the Amazon, where it’s known as the Amazonian cod. Alligator gars and sturgeon make a comebackĪlthough the outlook for most giant fish remains grim, some species, like the air-breathing arapaima in South America, may be bucking the trend. So far, however, conservation efforts to protect endangered giant freshwater fish species are mostly regional.
There are signs that interest in freshwater species is gaining momentum, including increasing calls to explicitly include freshwater ecosystems in the 30x30 initiative, a global effort to set aside 30% of land and sea area for conservation by 2030. In the Mekong, where more giant fish species are found than in any other river, climate change is causing more severe droughts and disrupting the monsoon seasons that govern the river’s essential flood regime. This 646-pound Mekong giant catfish was caught in 2005.
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