Can Angling Save Worlds Largest Salmon?
“The approach we’re taking is to create a catch-and-release fishery for taimen that will be sustainable for the long term, thereby simultaneously benefiting the local economy while creating incentives for protection of the resource.” Vermillion’s fly-fishing clients each pay around U.S. $5,200. A concession fee is then paid to fund conservation work and enforcement efforts aimed at reducing poaching. Local Mongolians run these river patrols. Innovative approaches such as the Taimen Conservation Fund’s “Fly-fishing for Biodiversity” provide a model to protect freshwater habitats and safeguard some species of fish from over-exploitation, says Zeb Hogan, of the Mekong Fish Conservation Project. Hogan has received funding from the National Geographic Society to research and promote the conservation of giant catfish in the Mekong. “Globally, the largest species of fish are the ones that disappear first,” Hogan said. “Large body size predisposes species to over-exploitation. Large-bodied fis
