<p class="bodytext">"Mahseer fish, known as the tiger of fish, is on the verge of extinction in the River Cauvery basin and it needs scientific approach to protect the species," said Steve Lockett of Mahseer Trust. "The species is a bio-indicator and its existence indicates that the river is healthy," he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In an interactive session with the media, here on Friday, he said that due to the pressure on rivers and on the species from other commercial fish species such as Catla and Rohu, the Mahseer fish is on the verge of extinction. "In addition, minimum environmental flow regimes, pollution and effluent outputs, over fishing, destructive methods like dynamite, electrocution and poisoning, among others are major threat to the species," he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The Humpback Mahseer of the main river and tributaries of the Cauvery basin is the largest Mahseer species in the world, which is capable of growing to over 60 kg. Despite more than 500 scientific papers presented about the six Mahseer species identified at present in India, less than 10% have been concerned over the ecology of the wild fish.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Most of the research work has been focussed into artificial breeding in carefully controlled water bodies. This lack of data about wild populations has hampered previous conservation efforts," he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"There are two small-breeding population of the endemic Humpback Mahseer – one in the upper River Cauvery, in Kodagu district and the second in the River Moyar, above Bhavanisagar. Both are extremely vulnerable to serious pollution. If they are wiped out, it would probably be the end of this iconic species of mega fauna. There is an urgent need to protect the species with the scientific approach," he added.</p>
<p class="bodytext">"Mahseer fish, known as the tiger of fish, is on the verge of extinction in the River Cauvery basin and it needs scientific approach to protect the species," said Steve Lockett of Mahseer Trust. "The species is a bio-indicator and its existence indicates that the river is healthy," he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In an interactive session with the media, here on Friday, he said that due to the pressure on rivers and on the species from other commercial fish species such as Catla and Rohu, the Mahseer fish is on the verge of extinction. "In addition, minimum environmental flow regimes, pollution and effluent outputs, over fishing, destructive methods like dynamite, electrocution and poisoning, among others are major threat to the species," he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The Humpback Mahseer of the main river and tributaries of the Cauvery basin is the largest Mahseer species in the world, which is capable of growing to over 60 kg. Despite more than 500 scientific papers presented about the six Mahseer species identified at present in India, less than 10% have been concerned over the ecology of the wild fish.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Most of the research work has been focussed into artificial breeding in carefully controlled water bodies. This lack of data about wild populations has hampered previous conservation efforts," he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"There are two small-breeding population of the endemic Humpback Mahseer – one in the upper River Cauvery, in Kodagu district and the second in the River Moyar, above Bhavanisagar. Both are extremely vulnerable to serious pollution. If they are wiped out, it would probably be the end of this iconic species of mega fauna. There is an urgent need to protect the species with the scientific approach," he added.</p>
