Cambodia clamps down on piranha imports and online marketing

Piranhas belong to a group of freshwater fish within the genus Serrasalmus. Out of 25 species in this group, only four are harmful to humans and animals. - The Phnom Penh Post/PIXABAY

PHNOM PENH (The Phnom Penh Post/Asia News Network): The Fisheries Administration (FiA) has announced the confiscation and destruction of piranhas, a notorious species of carnivorous fish with razor-sharp teeth, that it said had been smuggled into Cambodia.

Khov Kuong, deputy director-general of the the FiA – which operates under the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries – noted in the August 13 announcement that some types of piranhas, commonly referred to as sparrow fish in Cambodia, are extremely dangerous.