Numbers of the endangered Irrawaddy dolphin are declining despite conservation efforts.
Swollen gray heads break the murky waters of the Mekong River in Cambodia as a pod of rare Irrawaddy dolphins breathe, causing excited tourists to watch from nearby boats.
The thrilling sight may soon be just a memory as the endangered mammal’s numbers dwindle despite conservation efforts.
Cambodia has announced tough new restrictions on fishing in the huge river to try to reduce the number of dolphins killed in nets.
But in a country with limited financial resources, it is a huge challenge to enforce the rules on a river hundreds of meters wide that is dotted with islets and densely vegetated.
“We’re afraid we can’t protect them,” says river ranger Phon Pharong during a patrol looking for illegal gill nets.
Gill nets – vertical nets left in the water for long periods – trap fish indiscriminately and are the leading cause of death for dolphins in the Mekong, according to conservationists.
Pharong is one of more than 70 guards who patrol a 120-kilometer (75-mile) stretch of the Mekong from northeastern Kratie province to near the Laos border.
Guards say their efforts are hampered by limited resources – and intimidation by fishing gangs.
Mok Ponlork, a fisheries department official who leads the dolphin conservation patrols in Kratie, has 44 people to monitor an 85km stretch, but says to do the job effectively he would need at least 60.
Enforcing Cambodia’s tough new fishing restrictions on the vast Mekong River is a huge challenge.
Without the staff, the rangers know they are playing a losing game of cat and mouse with those who fish the river.
“If we patrol at night, they don’t go. When we come back in the day, they go to the river,” Farong said.
Low wages mean guards are forced to work ashore to support their families, taking them away from patrol duties.
Each ranger receives about $65 a month from the government, while WWF funds another $5 for a day’s patrol.
The numbers are dwindling
Irrawaddy dolphins—small, shy creatures with domed foreheads and short beaks—once swam through much of the mighty Mekong to the delta of Vietnam.
Illegal fishing and plastic waste have killed many, and dolphin habitat has been reduced by dams in the stream and climate change, which have had a significant impact on water levels in the river.
Many locals who make their living taking tourists to see dolphins worry about the mammals’ future.
The population in the Mekong has fallen from 200 when the first census was taken in 1997 to just 89 in 2020.
The species lives in only two other rivers: Myanmar’s Ayeyarwady and Indonesia’s Mahakam, according to WWF.
The three river populations are listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
Freshwater and saltwater Irrawaddy dolphins are slightly more numerous in coastal areas of South and Southeast Asia – although even there they are classified as endangered.
Adding to concerns about the future of Mekong dolphins, about 70 percent of the population is now too old to reproduce.
Eleven Mekong dolphins died last year, but in December the deaths of three healthy dolphins of breeding age entangled in nets and fishing lines within a week caused conservationists particular concern.
Irrawaddy dolphins once swam through much of the mighty Mekong, all the way to the delta of Vietnam.
“It’s a somewhat worrying sign,” Seng Tik, Country Director of WWF-Cambodia, told AFP.
“We need a lot to ensure that this species continues to survive in the Mekong,” he said, calling on the government to “mobilize more resources to protect dolphins.”
Protection zones
At the end of February, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen issued a new law to create no-fishing protection zones.
The population of Irrawaddy dolphins in the Mekong River has dropped to just 89 in 2020.
Offenders face up to one year in prison for using gill nets and up to five years for electrofishing in the protected areas.
In one such zone, around the village of Kambi, 24 guards now patrol a 22-square-kilometer (8.5-square-mile) stretch of river 24 hours a day.
“If they put gill nets in the conservation zones, we will arrest them. If they use electrofishing, there is no mercy, they will be arrested and sent to court,” Ponlorc said.
Locals sell wooden sculptures of Irrawaddy dolphins at a tourist site along the Mekong River in Cambodia’s Kratie province.
So far, the extra push seems to be paying off: no more deaths, not even a glimmer of hope.
“We received word from the tour boat operators that a baby dolphin was born a few days ago,” Ponlork said.
Many locals who make a living taking tourists to see dolphins or selling related souvenirs also worry about the mammals’ future.
“If the dolphins go, we’re done because our income comes from the dolphins,” says Meas Mary, 53, who makes up to $15 a day on boat trips.
“There used to be a lot of dolphins. Now they’re disappearing. I’m so worried.”
© 2023 AFP
Reference: The battle to save Cambodia’s river dolphins from extinction (2023, March 15) Retrieved March 15, 2023, from https://phys.org/news/2023-03-cambodia-river-dolphins-extinction.html
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