Mekong River (4,350km)

Twelfth longest river and seventh longest in Asia

Runs through six countries

Lower Mekong basin fisheries have an estimated annual yield of 4.4 million tonnes, a value of USD17 billion

Pollution: How & Who

Sources of pollution include heavy metals mines and industrial waste from heavy industries, agricultural waste and sewage, rubbish and sewage from people living along the river’s banks

Effects of Pollution

Pollution and illegal fishing are threatening the Mekong’s 1,200 species of freshwater fish and 800 species of reptiles and amphibians. Dolphins are being caught in illegal fishing nets and hunted for blubber for lubrication and fuel. Toxic levels of pesticides, mercury (from gold mining) and other pollutants have been found in dead Irrawaddy dolphins (Orcaella brevirostris). Eleven dams planned along the lower Mekong in Laos and Cambodia are endangering fish populations and ruining fisheries