A large 143 kilogram Mekong Giant Catfish was caught in the Mekong River by a local fisherman in Ubon Ratchathani, the man reveals he feels happier than winning the lottery. This incident took place on the 28th of this month when the water in the Mekong River is slowly decreasing.
A fisherman in Ubon Ratchathani province named Tone Singhamui 33 years old stated that he used a seine to catch the giant fish. He placed the seine like usual in the river every day, but this time when he started gathering the seine it was extremely heavy and kept on pulling on his boat. Tone called his friends fishing nearby to help him pull the seine together and discovered that he had caught an extremely large Mekong Giant Catfish that weighed 143 kilograms.
The people around where Tone lived in Song Kon, Pho Sai district heard the big news of the giant fish and wanted a part in tasting the big delicacy. The Mekong Giant Catfish is unique to the Mekong river that is said to be very delicious. Villagers don’t see the fish in the market as it is becoming more harder to find each day. In fact, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has placed the Mekong Giant Catfish as a Critically Endangered animal in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).
Tone and his fisherman friends started preparing the giant fish and took it to the market where villagers took their share of the rare delicacy as no fisherman in the area has caught a fish as big. Tone made 14,000 THB from selling the fish. The highest record of a fisherman in the area catching a Mekong Giant Catfish was at 80 kilograms.
Tanakrit Saijai from the Ubon Ratchathani district stated that those who eat the giant catfish is believed to live a long life. Popular menus include catfish tom yum, spicy stir-fried catfish, and catfish salad. The fish has a lot of fat similar to pork and is said to be one of the best tasting freshwater fishes.
FB Caption: Tone made 14,000 THB from selling the fish as villagers in the area wanted to taste the rare Mekong River Giant Catfish.
Source: Sanook
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