The people of the Sepik
Are hungry and need fish
Let's introduce the Pacu
That's a tasty dish
It may be a piranha
But it doesn't feed on meat
It mostly crushes nuts
With its large and fearsome teeth
Now the ball-cutter piranha
Feeds on other nuts
As it lurks in shallow water
Close to peoples huts
No one likes to see hungry people but the decision to introduce piranha into Papua New Guinea's Sepik River as a food source beggers belief. Yes, they may be vegetarian in their native Amazon but they are still piranha and nobody should have been surprised when they became carnivorous when their natural diet of nuts and river vegeation became scarce. Referred to a "The Mutilator" in Jeremy Wade's River Monster programme they appear to be responsible for at least two deaths in the Sepik when they bit off the genitals of men wading in the shallows. It is unsurprisingly now referred to as the "ball-cutter" throughout PNG and it is greatly feared. It is a large and hardy species that has spread throughout theSepik River system since fingerlings were introduced into the river by the misguided "FishAid" Project in 1994 and then into the Ramu in 1997. They will undoubtably infest all PNG rivers in the longer term.
The ecological and social cost of active introductions of invasive exotic fish species into Papua New Guinea's river systems has been enormous and yet the introduction programmes continue with the latest menace being the genetically modified GIFT Tilapia. Crocodile populations have plummeted as the river vegetation that they need for nesting is consumed by introduced tilapia and carp. Freshwater prawns are also vanishing and so are iconic game fish species such as the Black Bass and the Sepik Grunter. It is a tragedy unfolding.
We seem incapable of learning and keep making the same mistakes again and again with the same predictable consequences. The long term answer lies in education but by then it will be far too late for many river catchments and their unique species of fish.
Are hungry and need fish
Let's introduce the Pacu
That's a tasty dish
It may be a piranha
But it doesn't feed on meat
It mostly crushes nuts
With its large and fearsome teeth
Now the ball-cutter piranha
Feeds on other nuts
As it lurks in shallow water
Close to peoples huts
No one likes to see hungry people but the decision to introduce piranha into Papua New Guinea's Sepik River as a food source beggers belief. Yes, they may be vegetarian in their native Amazon but they are still piranha and nobody should have been surprised when they became carnivorous when their natural diet of nuts and river vegeation became scarce. Referred to a "The Mutilator" in Jeremy Wade's River Monster programme they appear to be responsible for at least two deaths in the Sepik when they bit off the genitals of men wading in the shallows. It is unsurprisingly now referred to as the "ball-cutter" throughout PNG and it is greatly feared. It is a large and hardy species that has spread throughout theSepik River system since fingerlings were introduced into the river by the misguided "FishAid" Project in 1994 and then into the Ramu in 1997. They will undoubtably infest all PNG rivers in the longer term.
The ecological and social cost of active introductions of invasive exotic fish species into Papua New Guinea's river systems has been enormous and yet the introduction programmes continue with the latest menace being the genetically modified GIFT Tilapia. Crocodile populations have plummeted as the river vegetation that they need for nesting is consumed by introduced tilapia and carp. Freshwater prawns are also vanishing and so are iconic game fish species such as the Black Bass and the Sepik Grunter. It is a tragedy unfolding.
We seem incapable of learning and keep making the same mistakes again and again with the same predictable consequences. The long term answer lies in education but by then it will be far too late for many river catchments and their unique species of fish.
did these people responsible/ culpable for the introduction not carry out trials? unbelievable stupidity, or do they have another agenda.
ReplyDeletethrow them in the sepic river I say , the males anyway.