Catfish (As Big As Grizzly Bear) Caught!

[matcom]

http://network.news.com.au/image/0,10114,5022212,00.jpg

<snip>

FISHERMEN in northern Thailand have caught the biggest catfish on record – a 293-kg giant the size of a grizzly bear – and eaten it, the WWF and the National Geographic Society have said.

The giant catfish, believed to be the largest freshwater fish ever found, was caught along the Mekong River, home to more species of massive fish than any river on Earth.
"We've now confirmed that this catfish is the current record holder, an astonishing find," Dr Zeb Hogan, a WWF Conservation Science Fellow, said.

Project members determined that this new catch was 11 pounds heavier than the previous record holder - another Mekong catfish.

"I expect we're still going to find bigger fish than these," said University of Wisconsin fisheries biologist Zeb Hogan, the project director.

"It's astonishing."

According to Hogan, the Mekong has heretofore been a good habitat for such monsters because it is one of the deepest rivers in the world, reaching depths of more than 200 feet.

Local environmentalists and government officials tried to negotiate the release of the fish so it could continue its spawning migration in the far north of Thailand but the adult male died and was eaten in a remote village, it said.

The Mekong giant catfish is southeast Asia's largest and rarest fish and the focus of a National Geographic Society project headed by Hogan to study freshwater fish more than two metres long or weighing more than 100 kg.

New contenders for the title of the world's largest freshwater fish include Mongolian salmon, giant sturgeon, giant lungfish, razor-toothed gar, the dinosaur-like arapaima, the giant freshwater sting ray and the ever-popular dog-eating catfish.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,15777471-13762,00.html

[commander bunnypants]

1. um

:wow:

Where is the :beer:

CB

[rasputin1952]

2. 644.6 #'s...that is amazing...

I am wondering how old the damn thing is, and if they served it w/4# Hush Puppies....:)

[ghostsofgiants]

3. Yep, 'General Sherman'.

They say he's five hundred pounds of bottom-dwelling fury, don't you know. No one knows how old he is, but if you ask me (and most people do), he's hundred years if he's a day. No one's ever caught him, but one fella came close. Went by the name of Homer. Seven feet tall he was, with arms like tree trunks. His eyes were like steel, cold, hard. Had a shock of hair, red like the fires of Hell.

[Misunderestimator]

4. These poor guys probably thought they had the biggest catfish...

[soothsayer]

5. jeez, I get nervous when I catch an 18 incher---they'll slash you!

razor sharp dorsal fin, and ooooo what a fight!

[davsand]

6. I can't EVEN imagine how nasty that tasted.

Catfish that get too big are really strong tasting fish. I don't want to think about how much beer and seasoning it would take to make that sucker taste like anything except mud and old fish...


Laura