Giant catfish in
protest against dam
The Nation, May
16, 2000
, By Pennapa Hongthong
UBON RACHATHANI
Fishermen yesterday released a young Mekong giant catfish into the Mool River to
demand the rivers rehabilitation.
The Mool is blocked
by the Pak Mool Dam, built by the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat).
Fishermen say the dam has contributed to dramatic depletion of fish species in
the river. The dam prevents fish from migrating between the Mool and Mekong
rivers, they said.
Before the release of
the 25 kilogram catfish, more than 500 villagers staged an early morning protest
at the dam site. They want the government to order Egat to open all of the
dams gates to restore fisheries.
We would like to
call the governments attention to the loss of our livelihood, said
community leader Thongcharoen Sihatham. We have long attempted to discuss our
problem with Egat, but it just does not listen.
The villagers said
opening the gates was a peaceful way to decommission the Pak Mool dam because it
did not involve removing the concrete structure itself.
Meanwhile Egat took a
group of 10 journalists to the dam site and denounced the protest. Egat
officials said the villagers were trespassing as the site was state property.
The villagers
demand to have the gates opened cannot be met because it would result in power
shortages or even blackouts in a number of Northeastern provinces, the officials
said.
Egat assistant
governor Supin Panyamak denied the fishermens claim that construction of the
Pak Mool dam had affected fisheries in the river.
They will have to
prove their claim. From the information we have received from the Royal
Fisheries Department, local income from fisheries has increased [from stocking
the reservoir], he said.
The migration of fish
from the Mekong into the Mool is a myth, said Theeraphat Thongkham, Egats
aquatic biologist. He said there was no evidence of fish from the Mekong
migrating to feed and spawn in the Mool.
However, he could not
explain why Egat had built a fish ladder at the dam site in the first place. The
ladder was installed at the Pak Mool dam after fishermen and ichthyologists said
the dam would affect fisheries and the genetic diversity of the Mool River
basin.
Probably the only
change since the dams construction has been in the structure of the fish
population in the Mool River, he said. This is because the dam created a
reservoir, which changed the rivers condition from flowing to still.
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