World's biggest catfish

[ShoogarBear]

Good God. That'd be some serious fryin'.

Link

One big fish
Thai men hook 646-lb. catfish, may be world's largest

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) -- Thai fishermen caught a 293-kilogram (646-pound) catfish that may have been the world's largest freshwater fish, wildlife conservation groups said.

The Mekong giant catfish was netted by villagers in a remote part of northern Thailand, the World Wildlife Fund and the National Geographic Society said in a statement.
When wildlife officials caught wind of the catch they urged the villagers to release the adult male so that it could spawn, but it later died and was eaten, the groups said. They did not say when the massive fish was caught.

The fish was the heaviest recorded since Thai officials started tracking the species in 1981 and may be the largest freshwater fish ever discovered, the statement said.
"An astonishing find," researcher Zeb Hogan was quoted as saying. Hogan leads an international project funded by the groups to locate and study the world's largest freshwater fish species.

The catfish species has been declining, a phenomenon fishermen blame on dams and environmental damage along the Mekong River -- home to more species of giant fish than any other river, the statement said.

The Mekong giant catfish -- which shares the le of largest freshwater fish with a close relative, the dog-eating catfish -- was listed as critically endangered in 2003 after research showed its numbers had fallen by at least 80 percent over the past 13 years.

"My study of giant freshwater fish is showing a clear and global pattern: the largest fish species are disappearing," Hogan said. "By acting now, we can save animals like the Mekong giant catfish from extinction."

[ShoogarBear]

I'd hit it. [/tlongII]

[CosmicCowboy]

When wildlife officials caught wind of the catch they urged the villagers to release the adult male so that it could spawn

they must have flunked that class.

[bigzak25]

sum . that's a big effin fish.

[samikeyp]

You know those of us in the South were saying "now...how much corn meal would we need for that one?"

[desflood]

Mmm, fried catfish...

[SpursWoman]

After spending a lot of quality time with Big Fat Ugly Bas , AKA the catfish I kept in my fish tank to keep it clean....I will never, ever eat those nasty-assed bottom feeders.

:vomit