Giant Barb Profile

Sometimes called the "king of fish," the giant barb has a storied history in its Southeast Asia range. In Vietnam, this distinctive, large-headed species is called cá ho. In Cambodia, the barb appears in ancient temple carvings at Angkor and has been named the national fish.

The giant barb is a river fish that often frequents deep pools but may move seasonally into canals or river floodplains. Juveniles are often seen in swamps or smaller river tributaries.

Though they've been known to reach 660 pounds (300 kilograms), specimens above 220 pounds (100 kilograms) have become exceptionally rare in recent years. These massive fish sustain their bulk on tiny plants such as phytoplankton as well as algae, seaweed, and, during periods of high water, the fruits of submerged terrestrial plants.

Scientists fear that cá ho populations have declined to the point where few survive to reach the age of sexual reproduction. This fish has become severely threatened along its native range, which stretches from Cambodia to the Mekong Delta, because of water pollution, river traffic, and especially overfishing pressures.

The flesh of the giant barb has long been considered a delicacy among residents of the Mekong River Basin, and it is a popular eating and pickling option for the tens of millions of people who depend on the Mekong's aquatic fauna for food.Government programs have focused on captive breeding in an attempt to save this regional icon. Young giant barb can become acclimated to pond life and may be suitable for farming.

Lake Sturgeon Profile

The lake sturgeon, with its sleek shape and rows of bony plates on its sides, looks a bit like an armored torpedo. These freshwater giants have greenish-grey coloring and a pointed snout with two pairs of whiskerlike tactile organs that dangle near its mouth. These organs, called barbels, help it to locate bottom-dwelling prey, such as snails, clams, insect larvae, and fish eggs.

Lake sturgeons can be huge, topping six feet (two meters) long and weighing nearly 200 pounds (90 kilograms). They are also extremely long-lived. Males may live some 55 years, and females can reach 150.

Despite their name, lake sturgeons are also found in rivers, but they avoid salt water. These fish were once a major part of North America's Great Lakes, Hudson Bay, and Mississippi River ecosystems and occurred from Canada to Alabama. But intense fishing has exacted a heavy toll on their populations.

These fish were once killed as a nuisance bycatch because they damaged fishing gear. When their meat and eggs became prized, commercial fishermen targeted them. Between 1879 and 1900, the Great Lakes commercial sturgeon fishery brought in an average of 4 million pounds (1.8 metric tons) per year.

Such unsustainable catch rates were coupled with environmental challenges such as pollution and the construction of dams and other flood control measures. Sturgeons, which return each spring to spawn in the streams and rivers in which they were born, found tributaries blocked and spawning shoals destroyed by silt from agriculture and lumbering.
The 20th century saw drastic drops in sturgeon catches, increased regulations, and the closure of viable fisheries. Currently 19 of the 20 states within the fish's original U.S. range list it as either threatened or endangered.

In recent years, however, the great fish has made something of a comeback. Strong efforts at righting environmental wrongs in the Great Lakes have improved conditions, and concentrated efforts to protect the fish have turned sturgeon into a spotlight species.