A controlled fishing system in Brazil’s Amazon River area is helping to save an endangered fish. The fish is the piraruc. It is also known in Brazil as arapaima. The piraruc is believed to be the largest of 2,300 different kinds of fish known to live in the Amazon Basin. It can grow to be three meters long and weigh up to 200 kilograms. The fish mostly live in lakes across large areas of the Brazilian Amazon. They are carnivores, meaning they feed on other fish. The piraruc is considered endangered because of overfishing. Illegal fishing activities left many communities struggling to find the fish, which traditionally is an important food. In recent years, however, illegal fishing of the piraruc has been sharply reduced. And the fish has increasingly been recovering. The Associated Press (AP) reports the improvements came after efforts that included close cooperation between communities and complex logistics. One of the unusual things about piraruc is that they need to breathe air to survive. The fish need to take at least one breath every 20 minutes. They rise to the surface to do so. This behavior by the fish makes it easier to count how many piraruc are active in an area. A count of the fish is now carried out once a year by fishermen trained to use the method. By law, only 30 percent of piraruc in a certain area can be fished the following year. Piraruc fishing is now done once a year, around September, the period when water levels are lowest.