JAVNIAN ASSOCIATED PRESS (JAP)
By Joash Matondang
METHAROM, Zahmeel Province — December 2142
Six-Metre “Super-Fish” Injures Five Fisheries Officers in Hoskins
HOSKINS, New Britain — What began as an operation to remove an invasive fish from a local waterway turned into a dangerous struggle this week when five Fisheries Department officers were injured attempting to capture a giant arapaima measuring approximately six metres in length.
The enormous fish was discovered in a waterway outside Hoskins after residents reported seeing an unusually large animal repeatedly surfacing near the shoreline.
At first, fisheries personnel believed the reports had been exaggerated.
They were not.
When officers reached the site, they encountered an arapaima large enough to present a serious physical hazard to anyone entering the water.
The animal reportedly resisted multiple attempts to contain it, thrashing violently whenever personnel attempted to secure it with capture equipment. Several officers were knocked into the water during the operation, while others sustained injuries from the animal’s powerful movements and the surrounding equipment.
With the situation escalating, KPLP authorities dispatched an HH-80 Sua Tuan helicopter to assist the Fisheries Department.
Three of the injured officers were subsequently transported by helicopter to Alexander Provincial Hospital, the only Level I trauma hospital on the island. Two additional officers were treated locally for less severe injuries.
Officials have not disclosed the full extent of the injuries.
The incident has renewed concerns about the dangers posed by exotic species introduced into Javnian waterways.
A fish built like a tank
The arapaima is among the largest freshwater fish on Earth.
Native to the Amazon and Essequibo basins of South America, the species can reach enormous proportions, with exceptional specimens approaching five metres in length and weighing hundreds of kilograms. The Hoskins specimen, at approximately six metres, would therefore represent an exceptionally large individual.
Its size, however, is only part of the reason fisheries officers consider the animal dangerous.
Arapaima possess large overlapping scales that function almost like biological armour. The scales are sufficiently tough and flexible to protect the fish from predators, including piranhas.
The species also possesses a modified swim bladder that functions as a primitive lung.
Arapaima must regularly surface to breathe atmospheric air, typically coming up every several minutes. Their sudden appearances at the surface are accompanied by a distinctive coughing or popping sound.
For anyone unfamiliar with the species, the sound can be startling.
For fisheries personnel attempting to capture a six-metre specimen, it can be a warning.
The fish are capable of powerful bursts of movement and can strike or overturn small equipment when frightened. Their diet consists primarily of other fish, but arapaima are opportunistic predators and have been documented consuming amphibians, birds, small mammals and fruit.
They can even launch themselves partially out of the water to seize prey hanging from vegetation.
The “Cod of the Amazon”
The species has become increasingly valuable outside South America because of what aquaculture operators describe as its exceptional commercial characteristics.
Arapaima grow extremely quickly and produce large quantities of high-protein, relatively low-fat meat. Their flesh is prized because it contains few of the troublesome intramuscular bones found in many other fish.
The fish can also tolerate conditions that would kill many other freshwater species.
Because they breathe atmospheric air, arapaima can survive in warm, stagnant and oxygen-depleted water. They can tolerate crowded farming conditions and therefore have become attractive to commercial fish farmers seeking high-yield aquaculture species.
The result has been an international trade in live arapaima.
Fish have been transported far beyond their natural range for commercial farming, sport fishing, exotic aquariums and private collections.
Their scales and skin have also developed commercial uses. The enormous scales can be extremely durable and have been used as natural abrasive tools, while the tough skin can be processed into specialty and luxury leather products.
Their unusual appearance has additionally made them popular among collectors.
That popularity has created another problem.
Too big for the aquarium
Arapaima purchased when young can initially appear manageable.
That changes rapidly.
The species can grow to several metres in length, eventually becoming completely unsuitable for conventional private aquariums. Fisheries officials say that owners who can no longer accommodate an animal sometimes resort to the illegal release of exotic fish into rivers, lakes and drainage systems.
Once established, such animals can be extraordinarily difficult to remove.
The warm waters around New Britain provide potentially suitable habitat for a species adapted to tropical environments, particularly slow-moving rivers, floodplain lakes and swamp systems.
Officials are now investigating how the Hoskins arapaima entered the local waterway and whether other specimens may be present.
Authorities have not confirmed whether the captured fish was deliberately released, escaped from an aquaculture operation or originated from an earlier illegal introduction.
The investigation is continuing.
A warning from one fish
For the Fisheries Department officers involved, the incident demonstrated that invasive species are not simply an environmental problem.
They can also become a public-safety problem.
A fish weighing hundreds of kilograms and capable of growing several metres long is a very different proposition from the small aquarium animal in which it may have originated.
The Hoskins operation required specialized equipment, multiple personnel and ultimately assistance from KPLP aviation authorities.
And even then, five trained officers were injured.
Officials have urged residents not to approach unusually large exotic animals encountered in local waterways and to report sightings to fisheries authorities.
The six-metre arapaima may have been removed from the water.
But authorities now want to know whether it was alone.
