Friday, July 03, 2009

RM10,000 for each Arapaima gigas

Too late. Whatever you do, Arapaima gigas will be here to stay. Hope a lesson learned.
Admin
July 3, 2009
Terengganu lifts fishing ban in bid to rid Lake Kenyir of imported giant fish
Star

SETIU: Wanted! – Kenyir Monsters. And the bounty is RM10,000 for each Arapaima gigas anglers catch.

Announcing the angler’s dream offer, Mentri Besar Datuk Ahmad Said said Terengganu has lifted the fishing ban in Lake Kenyir from yesterday until Aug 15, except in areas gazetted as kelah sanctuaries and waters bordering the National Park.

“We want to see the Arapaima gigas caught alive and we will reward the angler with RM10,000,” he said after visiting Nadziyah Mohd Ladar, 39, widow of State Fire and Rescue Department diver Aladi Hasan at Kampung Buloh here yesterday.

Aladi drowned while on a rescue mission at Lake Kenyir on June 17.

Ahmad said the Kenyir Development Authority would issue permits to anglers but on condition that they release other species of fishes caught.

He said anglers were only allowed to use fishing rods and approved fishing gadgets to catch the fish while anglers would have to shoulder the cost of boat rentals.

He said the state was concerned that the giant fish, a freshwater species commonly found in the Amazon and Orinoco rivers of South America, could affect the population of other fish species in Kenyir.

Ahmad said the state planned to relocate the captured Arapaima gigas to Kemaman Zoo.

Recently, State Fisheries Department director Munir Mohd Nawi said a team of biologists would conduct research on the giant fish.

Reports on the so-called “Kenyir Monster” surfaced after the deaths of two men on June 17.

Kenyir bird park supervisor Helmi Sukhri Hisham, 28, drowned after falling from his boat into the lake. Aladi who dove into the lake to search for Helmi Sukhri also drowned.

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