Three Megafish Species Imperiled by Lao’s Mekong River Dam

Three Megafish Species Imperiled by Lao’s Mekong River Dam

Click on the link to get more news and video from original source:  http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2012/12/27/three-megafish-species-imperiled-by-laos-mekong-river-dam/

Posted by Zeb Hogan

in Water Currents

on December 27, 2012

On November 7, 2012, the government of Lao PDR held an official groundbreaking ceremony for the Xayaburi dam, the first mainstream dam on the Lower Mekong River.

The Xayaburi dam, the first of eleven dams planned for the mainstream of the lower Mekong River, will likely reduce ecosystem service values and undercut livelihoods of people living in Thailand, Lao PDR, Cambodia, and Vietnam.  A recent Mekong River Commission study reports that the cumulative impacts of the planned dams in Lao PDR could disrupt the lifecycles of migratory fish, block access or destroy spawning grounds, and reduce catch by 270,000 to 600,000 metric tons.

This is especially significant because the Mekong is one of the most biodiverse and productive rivers on Earth.  It is a global hotspot for freshwater fishes: over 1,000 species have been recorded there, second only to the Amazon.  The Mekong River is also the most productive inland fishery in the world.  The total harvest of approximately 2.5 million metric tons per year is valued at $3,600,000,000 to $6,500,000,000.

The Xayaburi dam also poses a serious threat to several of the largest, and rarest, freshwater fish in the world, including the critically endangered Mekong giant catfish (Pangasianodon gigas), the critically endangered giant pangasius (Pangasius sanitwongsei), and the endangered seven-striped barb (Probarbus jullieni).

Evidence suggests that these species, particularly the Mekong giant catfish and giant pangasius, are vulnerable to threats from Xayaburi dam because of their migratory behavior, requirements for specific water quality and flow, and complex life history, which is dependent on seasonal floods.

The official environmental impact report for the Xayaburi project does not assess the dam’s effects on these, and many other migratory and Red Listed, species.  Depending on the scale of migrations and location of spawning sites, the Xayaburi could cause the extirpation of the Mekong’s giant fishes over a large (hundreds of kilometers) area and put basinwide populations on a steep trajectory of decline.

Several groups, including the Mekong River Commission, have called for a ten-year moratorium on mainstream dams to better assess the long-term social and environmental costs of such projects.  Such large-scale assessments have become common on rivers where managers seek to rebuild migratory fish stocks but are urgently needed at the outset of projects to avoid unnecessary destruction of ecosystem services and costly restoration efforts.  The long-term viability of vulnerable fish populations – and people who depend on fish for food – is dependent on the ability to minimize the impacts of any mainstream dams built on the lower Mekong River.

Megafish at Risk

At least five species of giant fish occur in the vicinity of the Xayaburi site and the three largest and most endangered, the Mekong giant catfish, giant pangasius, and seven-striped barb, will suffer the most serious consequences if the dam is built.

Mekong giant catfish (Pangasianodon gigas)

A Khmer man travels with a 353-pound, 8-foot-long Mekong giant catfish (Pangasianodon gigas) on the Tonle Sap River in Cambodia. Photograph courtesy of Zeb Hogan.

The critically endangered Mekong giant catfish, a Mekong endemic, reaches a maximum length of 300 centimeters (118 inches) and a total weight exceeding 300 kilograms (660 pounds).  Based on catch data and genetic studies, it is likely that the Mekong giant catfish, though extremely rare, remains widespread throughout the basin.  It also appears likely that the behemoth uses the stretch of river of the Xayaburi dam as a migration corridor.

If the Xayaburi dam is built, it could alter Mekong flows and disrupt spawning cues, block spawning migrations, and slow downstream dispersal.  Some mortality may also occur if fish pass through dam turbines.  Impacts from Mekong mainstream dams could conceivably cause the extinction of the species.

Giant pangasius (Pangasius sanitwongsei)

The critically endangered giant pangasius catfish grows to 3 meters (10 feet) and 300 kilograms (660 pounds).  It once occurred in both the Chao Phraya and Mekong rivers, but wild self-sustaining populations are now limited to the Mekong.  The giant pangasius catfish is a main river species.  Adults seem to favor the deep pool areas of Chiang Saen, Chiang Khong, Loei, Xayaburi, Stung Treng, and Kratie, while the young are widespread in the main channel, especially along the Thai-Lao border and in Cambodia downstream of Kratie.

The giant pangasius, like many fish species in the Mekong River, migrates between habitats, requires specific water quality and flow, and has a complex life history dependent on migration and seasonal floods.  Mature fish migrate up the Mekong River and spawn in April and May at unknown spawning grounds.  Adult fish occur in both Chiang Rai and Loei Provinces in Thailand, and young fish occur along the Thai-Lao border from Nong Khai to Nakorn Phanom.  This suggests not only that giant pangasius occur at the Xayaburi site, but that the Xayaburi site is within the migratory corridor and may be in the vicinity of a spawning area.

More information is needed about the distribution and behavior of giant pangasius, but it appears very likely that the Xayaburi dam site is critical habitat for the species.  Construction of the dam could disrupt migratory behavior and spawning.  Once the dam is built, it may alter water flows and cues to migration, block upstream spawning migrations, and slow downstream dispersal.  Some mortality may also occur if fish pass through dam turbines.  Impacts from the dam could conceivably cause the extirpation of the giant pangasius from the Mekong River.

Seven-striped barb (Probarbus jullieni)

Seven-striped barbs. Photo: Lerdsuwa, Wikimedia Commons

The seven-striped barb occurred historically in Mekong, Chao Phraya, and Meklong basins in Southeast Asia and the Pahang and Perak basins of Malaysia.  Adult seven-striped barb appear to prefer main river habitats, whereas juveniles will enter floodplain habitats during the rainy season.  As recently as 1989, the seven-striped barb was reported as “extremely abundant” in the Mekong, but subsequent accounts indicate a significant drop.

The seven-striped barb occurs in the area that will be impacted by the Xayaburi dam.  The fish is migratory: adults migrate upstream in the dry season and form spawning aggregations.  Large fish remain in deep pools during low water.  Young fish enter floodplain habitats during the rainy season.  The Xayaburi dam could impact spawning sites, upstream migration of adults, and downstream dispersal of young.

Operation of the dam (variable flows) could also impact spawning triggers and dry season habitat.  Depending on the exact location of the spawning sites and the distance the species migrates, the Xayaburi dam could impact seven-striped barb populations within several hundred kilometers of the dam site.

A River in Peril: Laos Covertly Proceeds with Mekong Dam Construction Despite Neighbors’ Opposition

 

More information from http://www.internationalrivers.org/:

By Rachel Nuwer
06/23/2011

View Original Source:  http://magblog.audubon.org/river-peril-laos-covertly-proceeds-mekong-dam-construction-despite-neighbors%E2%80%99-opposition

A pristine stretch of the Mekong in southern Laos. Credit: Rachel Nuwer

All is not well along the muddy stretches of the Mekong River. The environmental and human rights group, International Rivers, received a shocker earlier this week when a leaked letter revealed that Laos is steamrolling ahead with plans to build a massive dam across the main branch of the Mekong River. In an “egregious breach of trust” Laos has broken an agreement made with neighboring countries Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam to defer construction until further studies and discussion could take place, according to a statement made by Ame Trandem, a Mekong campaigner at International Rivers.

The controversial project, known as the Xayaburi Dam, has had conservationists and local stakeholders up in arms for months. In October, a Strategic Environmental Assessment, compiled by a team of 25 international scientists, made clear that any dam on the mainstream of the Mekong would represent a “global loss” in biodiversity and jeopardize the livelihoods of nearly 30 million people who live within ten miles of the river’s lower stretches. The dam would almost certainly drive already vanishing species like the Mekong giant catfish to extinction. The annual flooding and nutrient cycles of the river would be “fundamentally disrupted,” according to the report, impacting crop regimes and wreaking havoc on fish breeding and migration.

The leaked letter, written by the Lao government to the Laos-based Xayaburi Power Company, states that the Lao government, “in a spirit of cooperation and working together of all relevant parties,” believes that it has done everything it needs to do in order to clear the project. “Essentially, [the letter] gives the green light to the company to move forward,” says Aviva Imhof, the Interim Executive Director at International Rivers. In a second letter, the Xayaburi Power Company writes to the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand saying that since the consultation process is complete, they would like to initiate construction.

The river gained a brief reprieve in April when the four Mekong nations met to discuss the pros and cons of building. The meeting was backed by a coalition of

Village fish market, southern Laos. Credit: RNuwer

230 NGOs opposed to the plan. Vietnam and Cambodia, the downstream countries most likely to bear the brunt of the dam’s ecological consequences, “made very clear statements expressing concern for more research and consultation,” Imhof says. Vietnam was most strongly opposed and called for a 10-year moratorium on all hydropower projects (Laos has proposed a total of 11 eventual dams). The countries agreed to put the project on ice until further ministerial-level meetings could take place, tentatively scheduled for this November.

Laos hopes to use the dam to boost the country’s economy by exporting much of the anticipated 28,000 MW of dam-generated power. But surreptitiously defying the wishes of its neighbors by proceeding with construction means Laos has joined the ranks of “rogue nations,” Trandem said in her statement. The four Southeast Asian nations are bound by the 1995 Mekong Agreement to hold inter-governmental consultations before tampering with the river, since any upstream actions can have profound downstream consequences. “We think it’s pretty outrageous that Laos is proposing to proceed unilaterally with this project in violation of their international obligations under the Mekong Agreement,” Imhof says. By carrying on in spite of the other member countries’ wishes, Laos is violating its obligations under international law.

But establishing international law and enforcing international law are two entirely different issues. “It’s very difficult to enforce those commitments,” Imhof says. She hopes that regional governments in Vietnam and Cambodia will step up after they’re alerted to Laos’ covert operation. In Thailand—though the country is poised to benefit from construction profits as well reap the largest dam-generated power consumption—local communities are also placing pressure on the government, especially in the country’s northern provinces where livelihood losses will likely be largest.

International Rivers also hopes that donors will increase their support of the Mekong River Commission, the central organization dedicated to sustainable development in the region. And on the flipside, “Laos is also still a very donor-dependent country,” Imhof says, so country-level donors can do their part to pressure the Lao government directly.

“We’re going to continue to work to ensure that this project and no projects on the mainstream of the Mekong are built,” Imhof says, “because these projects would threaten the river’s fisheries and livelihoods of literally millions of people.”

View all

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Rural riverside communities are predicted to suffer losses from the dam. Credit: RNuwer

Vietnamese boat families are completely dependent on the river for their livlihoods. Credit: RNuwer

• Endangered Species,
• Energy,
• Nature,
• Policy
• Rachel Nuwer’s blog

Call on Laotians to save our land: Take action today to stop the Xayaburi Dam Project! Send an email to the region’s governments asking them to cancel the project.

Mekong Under Threat

Governments to Decide on First Mainstream Dam April 19

In September 2010, the Xayaburi Dam was the first of eleven proposed dams for the Lower Mekong River’s mainstream to be submitted for approval by the region’s governments through a regional decision-making process hosted by the Mekong River Commission (MRC). Although the process has been severely flawed and the project’s Environmental Impact Assessment of extremely poor quality, the decision date for this process is Tuesday April 19, 2011.

The Xayaburi Dam is the single greatest threat currently facing the Mekong River and its people. The project would resettle around 2,100 people and directly affect a further 202,000 people living near the dam due to impacts on the river’s ecology and fisheries.  The dam threatens 41 fish species with extinction, including the critically endangered Mekong Giant Catfish.  A further 23 to 100 migratory species will also be threatened. Due to the devastating and irreversible risks the dam poses to the river’s ecosystem and biodiversity, impacts on local livelihoods and threat to food security, International Rivers believes that the project should be canceled.

Take action today to stop the Xayaburi Dam Project! Send an email to the region’s governments asking them to cancel the project.

For further key information by International Rivers see:

• Factsheet on the Xayaburi Dam
• Factsheet on the Strategic Environmental Assessment
• Ame Trandem’s blog “The Pandora’s Box of Mekong Dams“
• Our webpages on Mekong mainstream dams and the Xayaburi Dam
• Media Kit on Xayaburi Dam

Contact us: 

Ame Trandem
ame@internationalrivers.org
+1 510-848-1155

Pianporn Deetes
pai@internationalrivers.org
+66 814 220 111

Aviva Imhof
aviva@internationalrivers.org
+1 510 848 1155

View Original Source:  http://www.internationalrivers.org/node/6411

MEKONG SUB-REGION: Dams will unleash untold misery

 

Cached:  http://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/214462/dams-will-unleash-untold-misery

 

• Published: 5/01/2011 at 12:00 AM
• Newspaper section: News

When Zeus warned Pandora never to open the box given to her, the temptation proved too strong and Pandora forever unleashed into the world misery, suffering and sorrow. Today, much like this mythical Greek tragedy, the decision-makers of the Mekong sub-region face a similar temptation in the form of a cascade of hydropower dams proposed for the Mekong River’s mainstream.

They have also received Zeus’ warning from a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) report that warns of the grave social and environmental consequences should the dams proceed.

In September last year, the government of Laos initiated a regional decision-making process, facilitated by the Mekong River Commission (MRC), for the proposed Xayaburi dam located in the mountainous province of Xayaboury in northern Laos.

Over the next four months, the governments of Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam will make a joint decision on whether or not to approve construction of the dam, which would be the first of 11 mainstream dams proposed for the lower stretch of the river that runs through the four countries.

The initiation of this regional decision-making process on the Xayaburi dam pre-empted by three weeks the release of the SEA report, which was commissioned by the MRC in May 2009 and was originally intended to inform future decisions on mainstream dam development.

Whilst to most it would seem common sense to consider the SEA report’s recommendations before moving to more advanced stages of decision-making, given the report’s hard-to-swallow findings for mainstream dam developers, it is perhaps not so surprising that the Xayaburi dam has been pushed quickly ahead by its proponents, leap-frogging the launch of the SEA report by weeks.

The SEA report concludes that construction of dams on the Mekong River’s mainstream would irreversibly undermine the ecology and economic productivity of the river and will place at risk the livelihoods and food security of millions of people who depend upon the river’s resources.

It recommends that decision-making on Mekong mainstream dams, including Xayaburi, be deferred for 10 years due to the massive risks and vast impact associated with the projects, and the need for over 50 more critical studies to ensure that decision-makers are fully informed about these risks.

With very limited commitment to transparency and accountability in this new decision-making process, however, it seems that common sense might be in short supply, although civil society groups and the wider public have tried to make their opinions heard. In October 2009, for example, a 23,000-signature petition calling for the Mekong River’s mainstream to remain free of dams was sent to the prime ministers of Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam. More recently, in September last year, Thai community groups representing about 24,000 people in five provinces along the Mekong River submitted a petition to Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva asking him to cancel the Xayaburi dam.

Listening to public opinion through meaningful consultation would help limit Pandora’s temptation. Yet, whilst the regional decision-making procedures over the Xayaburi dam began three months ago, the MRC only publicly released an ambiguous road map for its implementation late last month.

Remarkably, whilst comment is invited, the project’s documents have not been disclosed to the public, rendering the process opaque, unaccountable and increasingly lacking in credibility.

If built, the Xayaburi dam will forcibly resettle over 2,100 people and over 200,000 people would suffer a direct impact on their livelihoods through the loss of fisheries, riverbank gardens, agricultural land and forests. Furthermore, the dam would block a critical fish migration route – including for 23 fish species that travel from Cambodia’s Tonle Sap lake – and scientists from around the world have concluded that there is no viable mitigation technology. Up to 41 fish species would face the threat of extinction, including the iconic Mekong Giant Catfish.

The myth of Pandora’s box has long been used as a lesson in the dangers of curiosity, temptation and the weaknesses of human nature. The question is, can we heed Pandora’s lesson before it is too late?

The decision lies not in the mystical domain of the Greek gods, but in the hands of the governments of Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. A special responsibility in this decision lies with Thailand, which plans to purchase 95% of the Xayaburi dam’s electricity. In addition, the project’s lead developer is Thailand’s second largest construction company, Ch Karnchang, and major Thai banks including Kasikorn, Bangkok Bank, Siam Commercial and Krung Thai are considering financing the project.

In a world facing a growing food and water crisis, working together to protect and share the Mekong River’s rich natural resources, rather than undermining them, should be a high priority for the region’s decision-makers. If, like Pandora, decision-makers choose not to heed the advice of the SEA report and instead open the dam-building box, grave misfortune is certain to follow. It is yet not too late to prevent the tragedy of these dams from being unleashed. Some boxes are meant to remain unopened.

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About the author

Writer: Ame Trandem

Position: A campaigner with the NGO International Rivers, a