An urgent international effort has been launched in Kochi to save one of India's most iconic freshwater giants from extinction. On Thursday, a high-level consultative workshop was convened to forge a vital conservation action plan for the humpbacked mahseer (Tor remadevii).
A Flagship Species on the Brink
The workshop was organized by the Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies (Kufos) in partnership with the Mahseer Trust (UK), Bournemouth University (UK), the Kerala State Forest Department, and the Kerala State Biodiversity Board. The focus was the humpbacked mahseer, a fish that can grow up to a staggering 60kg and is one of India's largest freshwater species.
This majestic fish holds the grim distinction of being the only mahseer species in the world classified as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List. In Kerala, its last refuges are tiny, forested streams within the Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary, Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary, and Attappadi Reserve Forest.
Decades of Decline Demand Immediate Action
The situation is dire. Due to a combination of habitat loss, pollution, and poaching, local populations of the humpbacked mahseer have plummeted by over 90% in the past 100 years. This catastrophic decline has made the creation and implementation of a targeted conservation plan a matter of utmost urgency.
Kufos Vice-Chancellor A Biju Kumar emphasized the fish's symbolic and ecological importance. He called it the "pride of Kerala" and a flagship species for the state's rivers. Kumar noted that human activities like dam construction, pollution, and overexploitation have reduced a fish that once roamed the Cauvery basin to small, fragmented groups in a few upstream tributaries.
"Kufos carried out pioneering research on humpbacked mahseer for a decade and it is now the right time to catalyze some of these into actionable conservation plans and policies," Kumar stated.
Forging a Collaborative Path Forward
The workshop brought together a powerful coalition of experts, including policymakers, government officials, and scientists from the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Bournemouth University, and Kufos. Attendees deliberated on creating a collaborative strategic plan to protect the last remaining populations of this "mega fish."
Key participants included Chief Wildlife Warden of Kerala Pramod Krishnan, Kerala State Biodiversity Board chairman N Anil Kumar, Bournemouth University scientist Adrian Pinder, and Mahseer Trust executive director Steve Locket.
The gathering built upon 12 years of joint research by Kufos and Bournemouth University, which has established crucial baseline knowledge on the taxonomy, biology, and ecology of the humpbacked mahseer. The goal of the workshop was to translate this scientific understanding into concrete, on-the-ground measures to secure the future of this critically endangered aquatic treasure.
