The Kampong Cham Fisheries Administration Cantonment, under the provincial Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, called on all fishers to notify its specialists when they accidentally catch rare fish such as giant barb, Mekong giant catfish or trasak fish. This would allow the authorities to arrange their release back into the river and conserve these rare species.
After fishers reported catching a 63-kilogram Mekong giant catfish on January 3, 2026, in the Mekong at Pongro village, Roka Koy commune, Kang Meas district, Kampong Cham province, the cantonment went to inspect the fish and release it back into the river.
Fisheries officials said the cantonment received word at 10:30 a.m. from fishers who had caught the giant catfish using manh fishing gear in the Mekong at Pongro village, Roka Koy commune, Kang Meas district. The case was reported to the Fisheries Administration according to procedure.
Tim Boreak, Under-Secretary of State at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, then led a technical team from the Fisheries Administration’s Inland Fisheries Research and Development Institute, the Wonders of the Mekong project and the Mekong Fisheries Administration Inspectorate. Working with Kang Meas district and Roka Koy commune authorities and the commune administrative police post, they inspected the fish and recorded data.
The inspection found that the fish was female, 186 centimetres long and 63 kilograms in total weight, with Fisheries Administration tag code 039. It had been caught in the Mekong at Pongro village, Roka Koy commune, Kang Meas district, Kampong Cham province. After identification was completed, the team and fisheries specialists released it into the Mekong.
By: Pai Sokhim
