Critically endangered fish caught, sold for $500,000 in China

It was no get-rich scheme but a stroke of good fortune for whomever caught the rare Chinese Bahaba. Below is a story posted Tuesday in the Scientific American. It's not clear exactly what became of the fish that was caught; only that this is a species likely bound for extinction thanks to overfishing because of a widespread belief that the bladders of these fish possess valuable medicinal qualities: 

A critically endangered fish whose swim bladder is believed to cure illnesses has been caught and sold for more than $500,000 in China.

The 135-kilogram Chinese Bahaba (Bahaba taipingensis), the first fish of its species caught in at least a year, was thought to be more than 50 years old. A fishery in Guangdong Zhanjiang purchased the fish for 3.45 million yuan.

According to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, the Bahaba's swim bladder "is highly appreciated for its medicinal properties and as a general tonic for health." Its use in traditional Chinese medicine resulted in the species being heavily overfished, to the point where any catch is widely reported in China's media.

Bahaba are endemic to the East China and South China seas. According to the IUCN, no spawning populations of the fish are known, and "there are likely to be few or no refuges remaining for recovery."

Photo courtesy of Fishbase.us

Comments

[Satellite Phones]

Wonder full writing skills you got mate.

[Joseph Zarola]

It is interesting that Man will pay absorbidant amounts of monies, for creatures nearly extinct, but fails miserably at maintaining the health of many of the different near-extinct tribal races of humans on the planet's surface. The creator of all of these creatures, will undoubtably rescue these rare fish, and the lot of mankind from itself....a day of reckoning for these creatures is on a collision course, with the greed and averace of certain men pitted against the true God, Jehovah. These men, who have "ruined the earth" in the sight of all, will NOT have the opportunity to repeat thier "domination to injury", to a restored planet, wildlife, and ultimately, mankind. The time is drawing close for responsible men and women to observe closely the season in which they are living, or should it be said, not living right.