(MY) arowana facing extinction

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Friday January 13, 2006 - The Star

 

Highly-prized dragon fish facing extinction

 

PETALING JAYA: The expensive yet much sought after wild Malaysian

Golden Arowana is facing extinction.

 

Found only in one location in the west coast of peninsular Malaysia,

the Golden Arowana is of the same family as the Asian Arowana

(Scleropages formosus).

 

Also known as the " dragon fish " or kelisa, the fish is indigenous to

the Asean region, especially Borneo, Sumatra and Malaysia, where it

thrives in selected habitats.

 

There is only one species of kelisa but the fish comes in various hues

– red, gold, blue, green as well as the red-tailed golden body

variety.

 

A red arowana fry can cost between RM3,800 and RM7,600, while its

green cousin is priced at RM300 to RM1,000.

 

The arowana is a mouth brooder.

 

When the eggs hatch, the fries cluster inside the mouth of the male

fish for protection.

 

Killing the adult in order to collect the fries from the mouth is a

common practice by poachers.

 

The arowana is expensive because it has become rare due to its

dwindling numbers – a result of development affecting their habitats,

and poaching.

 

Catching the kelisa is prohibited in Malaysia.

 

A protected species under our Fisheries Act 1991, it is listed in the

CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of

Flora and Fauna) Appendix I, which prohibits international trade of

wild species, and those classified as " endangered " by the International

Union for Conservation of Nature.

 

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Arowana tagged and being cared for - The Star - Friday - 13.1.06

 

By LEE YUK PENG

 

MALACCA: Fifteen of the remaining 35 Arowana seized by the Fisheries

Department last month have been transferred to Kuala Kangsar for

safekeeping.

 

State Fisheries Department research officer Mohamad Zaini Sulaiman

said the fish were sent in last Wednesday.

 

" They are being cared for and have since been tagged with a microchip

each, " he added.

 

Mohamad Zaini said the Arowana were mix bred and as such, were not as

valuable as initially thought.

 

" They are only worth between RM200 and RM2,000 each. Only one or two

can fetch RM2,000 while the rest are worth between RM200 and RM300

each, " he added.

 

Mohamad Zaini said initially, 17 Arowana with an average length of

25cm and weighing between 600g and 800g were handed over to the

department but two died upon arrival at the centre.

 

The fish were seized from Essam Al-Bala'a, a Syrian fish importer and

breeder residing in Singapore, as they were not embedded with

microchips as required.

 

The breeding of the Asian Arowana for commercial trading requires

registration with the Convention on International Trade in Endangered

Species (CITES) as it is classified as an endangered species.

 

A microchip is tagged to the captive bred Arowana to differentiate

them from those in the wild.

 

This method allows the law enforcer and consumer to positively

distinguish the captive bred fish from wild stock.

 

There are six CITES-registered Asian Arowana farms in Malaysia, five

in Singapore and 16 in Indonesia.