With a length of up to two and a half meters and weighing more than one hundred kilos, the siluro, one of the most voracious and exotic invasive species in our rivers. A single female can produce tens of thousands of eggs per year, which contributes to the rapid expansion of the species.
Catfish feed on migratory species such as European eel, shad, lamprey and barbel, fish associated with biodiversity, fishing activity and the traditional cuisine of riverside communities.
Now, an operation in Belver Damnext to Ortiga beach, in Mação, captured 254 specimens of siuro, totaling more than 2.3 tons of this fish.
“We expected to withdraw about 700 kilograms. However, we removed more than three times what was expected”, said this Monday Filipe Ribeiro, professor at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon and researcher at the Center for Marine and Environmental Sciences (MARE), considering that the results “exceeded optimistic forecasts” from the team.
According to the newspaper, the action took place over a period of 4.5 kilometers of the Tagus River, between the Belver bridge and the dam located next to the parish of Ortiga, in the municipality of Mação, district of Santarém.
The operation mobilized around 70 peopleincluding fishermen, nature watchers, technicians from the Institute of Conservation and Nature and Forests (ICNF), members of the GNR, firefighters and local authorities.
“The population of this predator is much larger at the Tagus river level than we expected,” said Filipe Ribeiro.
Through the data collected, the researchers estimate a density close to that of 300 catfish per square kilometer at Belver Reservoir. Filipe Ribeiro highlighted that the population could exceed one million adult specimens.
“Very possibly we will have a population that will not be less than one million individuals of adult siluros in these three reservoirs”, explained the national coordinator of the project Life Predator.
This project has developed environmental awareness programs in schools in the Tagus river basin, having already reached approximately 5000 students of more than 60 educational establishments and around 30 municipalities.
