On December 22, 1938, latimeria, the oldest fish on Earth and one of the living fossils, was caught near the southern coast of Africa. It was this catch that allowed scientists to “discover” latimeria and “bring it back to life”, because before that it was believed that it died out about 65 million years ago. Catching latimeria is certainly a unique story, but some fishermen can also boast of a rather unusual catch.
The biggest fish caught on spinning
On May 17, 2006, Martin Arostegui and Ralph Delpha caught a lemon shark weighing 174.6 kilograms on spinning near the Marquesas Islands (Florida, USA). The International Commercial Fish Association (IGFA) has officially recognized the shark as the heaviest fish ever caught in this way. This catch is also officially registered in The Guinness Book of Records.
The largest catfish in the world
On May 1, 2009, a local fisherman caught a giant catfish weighing 293 kilograms and 2.7 meters long in the Mekong River in Thailand. Such impressive dimensions were recorded by the Thai authorities in the presence of Zeb Hogan, head of the WWF (World Wildlife Fund) international research project. So far, this catfish holds two world records: the largest catfish in the world and the largest freshwater fish in the world.
The longest fish in the world
The herring king is the longest bony fish in the world. The record holder, whose achievement has not yet been beaten by anyone, was caught on December 31, 1885 by fishermen at Cape Pemaquid in Maine, USA. This fish, according to official data, had a length of 7.6 meters and a weight of 272 kilograms. Nowadays, similar giants are also sometimes found. For example, on October 13, 2013, employees of the Catalina Island Marine Institute, USA, found a dead herring king 5.5 meters long.
The biggest whale shark
The largest whale shark was caught in 2012 in Pakistan. It is worth noting that this whale shark was not caught in the literal sense of the word. The female died and her carcass washed ashore. However, this “catch” was also recorded and went down in history. The length of the whale shark was 12 meters, and its weight was more than 15 tons. To pull the giant out of the water, it was necessary to use two cranes. Fishermen sold this catch for $17,500.
The biggest fish is the moon
The moonfish is the heaviest of modern bony fish. She got into the Guinness Book of Records thanks to fishing in 1908, when local fishermen caught an individual 3.1 meters long, 4.26 meters high and weighing 2235 kilograms near Sydney.
The largest tuna in the world
This world record was set in 1979 by fisherman Ken Fraster while fishing near the Nova Scotia Peninsula in Olds Cove. Then a Canadian fisherman caught a giant Atlantic tuna weighing 677 kilograms and 459 centimeters long. By the way, Fraster tried to pull this huge fish out of the water for 45 minutes. But this fishing made him famous all over the world, and no one has beaten his record so far.
Ekaterina Gura
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