Amazon river monster caught by poachers

With their larger than adult size and fresh meat, the walrus is a favorite target for poachers in the Amazon rainforest that stretches across Brazil, Peru and Colombia.

The sea lionfish is huge in size. Photo: AFP

Because both the skin and the meat are of high value, the sea lionfish has long been a source of collection for the indigenous peoples of the lakes of the Javari valley. The meat of this fish is increasingly popular in many restaurants in Rio, Bogota and Lima, driving up prices and prompting poachers to target them, AFP reported on June 10.

In the Brazilian province of Amazonas, the hunting of walrus is strictly controlled. In the Javari valley, home to seven tribes including the Kanamari, only local residents can hunt giant fish. However, they often come into conflict with unauthorized trespassers.

Scientifically known as Arapaima gigas , the walrus is one of the largest freshwater fish on the planet. It was a strange-looking creature with a pink cone-shaped tail, a flat head, and bulging eyes that looked like a prehistoric monster. An omnivore, the sea urchin can grow up to 3 m long and weigh over 200 kg. Usually caught with nets and harpoons, they are relatively easy to spot and hunt because they have to come to the surface to breathe every 20 minutes.

Liked by the locals as "Amazon bison" due to its ability to eat a lot, the sea lionfish has high economic value. Their skins are used to make luxury products such as shoes, bags and wallets. The scales, which can resist the bite of a piranha, are sold to tourists as keychains. Due to overhunting in the Amazon region in Brazil, the walrus almost disappeared in the 1990s until the government issued regulations restricting the catch.

In 2017, a project started in the Javari valley to ensure that the indigenous community can continue to harvest sea lionfish for a long time. The sustainable project called CTI is managed by the Kanamari tribe. They volunteered to limit fishing and agreed not to sell fish for five years, according to Thiago Arruda, a spokesman for CTI. The project also includes patrols to detect and report poachers, which is very risky for tribal people because illegal fishermen are often armed. The assessment will take place in the next few weeks, if the fish population recovers enough, the people of Kanamari can start selling fish.

Efforts to protect sea lionfish in the Amazon River
BRAZIL Thanks to conservation experts and indigenous communities, giant fish like armored vehicles in the Amazon basin have had a chance to revive.

The walrus is the largest fish in the Amazon River. Photo: AFP.

Living in the Amazon basin, the sea urchin is one of the largest freshwater fish in the world, growing up to 3 m long and weighing 200 kg. The ability to breathe air allows this fish to live in waters with low oxygen levels and survive for a day out in the water. In addition to fish, walruses also eat birds, lizards and small mammals, crushing their prey with their tongues.

Evolution gives sea lions an advantage in size. The researchers liken them to a bulletproof tank that can fend off attacks by piranhas. Sea elephant dragons are "destructors" in the animal world, but they have a fatal weakness that is very delicious meat. They are nicknamed "Amazon river cod" because of their firm flesh and few bones. This fish is an important food source for the local community, but is also appreciated by many diners in Brazil's largest cities.

Overfishing has led to a gradual decline in the number of sea lions. In the 1990s, the Brazilian authorities took measures to ban the fishing of sea lions. However, illegal poaching continues, causing the species to disappear in many areas of the Amazon. But the efforts of conservation experts and local communities have turned the tide.

Today, walrus fishing is still banned in Brazil except in areas that have management agreements with local communities, according to João Campos-Silva, a Brazilian ecologist. Campos-Silva is a member of the Juruá Institute, one of many organizations working with indigenous communities to develop sustainable agriculture and revive the sea lion.

During the rainy season, sea lions find their way through the flooded forest to their spawning grounds and return to the lake when the water level drops. Focusing on the Juruá River and its surrounding lakes in the northern Brazilian state of Amazonas, the program run by the Juruá Institute over the past decade calculates a sustainable catch target for each lake for the next year and does not exceed 30 % of mature fish.

The local community guards the entrance to the lake year-round to ward off illegal fishermen coming in from the outside. Fishing is only allowed from August to November, any fish smaller than 1.55 m must be released back into the water.

According to Francisco das Chagas Melo de Araújo, aka Seu Preto, the head of the residential community in Xibauazinho, after 11 years of management, there are more than 4,000 sea lions in the lakes in the area. Campos-Silva's study of the lakes around the Juruá River during the same period showed that the number of sea lions had quadrupled. As numbers increase, sea lions migrate to new lakes, expanding their range. Campos-Silva estimates that today, about 330,000 walruses live in 1,358 lakes in 35 management areas, with 400 communities involved in protection.