Yet the CITES trade database—a searchable collection of all international trade in CITES-listed species, which countries are supposed to update annually—lists just six Mekong giant catfish exported from Thailand since 2011, none of which went to Vietnam. According to Cambodia’s CITES authorities, the country has never issued even one export permit for that species. And Vietnam’s CITES authority has no record of any import permits for Cambodian freshwater fish.
Anh may be able to bypass the permit formalities. “I have a good relationship with people in Cambodia’s government,” he told me. “I was introduced to these giant fish by them.” When asked to elaborate, he declined to comment further. “Selling these giant fish is sensitive. Giant catfish and giant barb are on the Red List, forbidden for catching,” he said, referring to the most endangered creatures identified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, which sets the conservation status of species.
According to Sok Rin, vice chief of fisheries at a commune on Cambodia’s Tonle Sap lake, “One hundred percent of fishermen know it’s illegal not to release a giant barb or giant catfish.” He admitted, though, that he and his colleagues don’t carry out patrols or investigations to ensure that the laws are being followed. “We just wait for fishermen to report giant fish to us,” he said. No further explanation was given.
Thach Phanara, head of laboratories at Cambodia’s Inland Fisheries Research and Development Institute, thinks lack of motivation and weak enforcement are serious obstacles to ending the illegal trade. “We have to push fisheries and customs officers to do their job—not just sit in an office and leave everything up to fishermen and middlemen,” he said. “We have to force them to carry out the rules.”
It’s much the same in Vietnam, according to Yen, the retired ichthyologist from Hanoi National University. “Vietnam is notorious for issuing many laws, but monitoring and enforcement is weak,” he said. “The laws are quite comprehensive, but the quality and effectiveness of this agency or that department just isn’t there.”