Locals scramble to catch thousands of fish left in a canal after it was drained.<br /><br />Officials dredged the waterway in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand, on Sunday (December 15) afternoon for it to be replaced with new water.<br /><br />However, many fish were left struggling after being caught in the thick mud. <br /><br />Residents spent four hours scouring the canal to stuff the fish into sacks. Some took dozens of catfish, locally called Dook fish, back home for supper.<br /><br />One of the locals who caught fish said he would take them back to his family to prepare a meal.<br /><br />He said: "It was a treat to find thousands of fish in the city canal. All the fish I caught will be for the dinner."<br /><br />There were other kinds of local fish such as Nile tilapia, bream, and snake-head fish. <br /><br />Fishing in public canals is banned but those in the video said that as there was nobody there to enforce it, they could trudge through to catch the fish.<br /><br />The drained waterway will be filled with clean water this week, which environmental workers hope will enhance the marine life.
