Slashdot Mirror
Grizzly-sized Catfish Caught in Thailand
An anonymous reader writes "Fishermen in northern Thailand have netted a fish as big as a grizzly bear, a 646-pound Mekong giant catfish, the heaviest recorded since Thai officials started keeping records in 1981. The behemoth was caught in the Mekong River and may be the largest freshwater fish ever found."
There are catfish this big in the Mississippi.
Some divers, upon seeing them, quit diving that same day.
Sadly they sound like they are on the way out -- humans have disrupted their environment to the point that the populations are isolated and can't move around freely enough"
.It's strange that they are in danger, but we are finding the biggest one ever seen. I do think environmental issues are of BIG importance, but must every article/show about nature revolve around it?
Well look at the source. Of course National Geographic will represent them as "on the way out". When was the last NG special you've seen that doesn't spend half the time talking about the doomed earth.
I sure miss those old nature specials that told us about animal behavior and not human behavior.
Start you "enlightened" flames now...
-richcoder
Story of this fish in german.
Grundgesetz * 23. Mai 1949 - 30. November 2007 - http://www.vorratsdatenspeicherung.de/
You know, you just have to wonder, what is it about that river that makes it home to more species of giant fish than any other river ?? And is it actually safe to eat these monster fish??
I live in Tennessee. Where I live it's a locally known phenomenon that some catfish caught (one every few years) are shockingly large. (I assume this was normal everywhere?)
I remember reading in local papers at least a few times in the past 15 years or so that one of exceptionally impressive size had been caught. Now, the funny thing is I have actually seen photos, polaroids even, of these fish since I was a child and never thought twice about it. What I always thought was "Some catfish get really big, some get insanely big." The largest photo I saw was of a huge, fat, disgusting catfish that really DID fill the bed of a small truck. (Think 80's/90's S10 pickup).
The largest catfish I've ever seen personally (not counting photos) was not quite that big. It was only about 3-4 feet long (almost as tall as my little brother at the time. I have pictures somewhere...)
I never even stopped to think that the fish wasn't just big, but actually an endangered variety of fish.
As I do some reading on the internet about Giant Catfish in this area I find very little, or at least nothing "Official". So that makes me wonder if it isn't the case that people around here are just "used to it" and the word doesn't really spread to those who might be interested in exactly this sort of thing?
Maybe these creatures are more common than one might think? Still, I would have to assume they are endagered.
I do know there is/was an 80 lb catfish on display at the Tennessee Aquarium. Though that really isn't in the same league as most giant catfish.
"Everything you know is wrong. (And stupid.)"
Moderation Totals: Wrong=2, Stupid=3, Total=5.
even Mark Twain claims to have seen one more than six feet long and weighing 250 pounds in the Mississippi River. (How he managed to weigh it is not recorded ^_-).
If you're really skeptical, visit the natural history museum at the University of Kansas to see skeletons and pictures of catfish taken (by hand by divers) in the Kansas River just a hundred years ago.
Chainarong Sretthachau, director of the conservation group Southeast Asia Rivers Network in Chiang Mai, Thailand, said threats to the giant catfish include commercial fishing, their touting to tourists as a food said to impart wisdom, and dynamite blasting of their spawning ground.
What the hell? I thought that was a joke in cartoons. People actually fish en masse like that? Does it even work?
So Biology\Zoology is not considered science, and therefore isn't for nerds?
Keeping and appreciating animals can be quite a geeky trait, aquarists included. Fishkeeping is a hobby that I'm starting to get into and the more I learn, the more I see geek potential.
Take for example, keeping a tank. Monitoring the nitrogen cycle by examining levels of ammonia, nitrite and nitrate is necessary for a healthy aquarium. You even get to break out the test-tubes and droppers like you're Gil Grissom!
Catfish, like the one in the article (albeit smaller, of course) are a popular choice for community aquariums because they are interesting animals that add variety. A lot of attention is given to ancestry - new and rare breeds can be very expensive indeed and each new type is meticulously labelled. I bet there are hundreds of Slashdotters reading this article and thinking to themselves 'I need a bigger tank', and are thinking of a place in the house to situate a 100,000 gallon bowfront...
Once you buy a fish tank, you never go back. Multiple Tank Syndrome (MTS) is an industry-recognised condition that's uttered with both humour and sincerity. Setting up your own ecosystem - choosing plants, substrate and decorations, as well as the fish - is like case modding, only it actually looks good.
Mother, do you think they'll like this sig?
No need to be a dick. It's generally considered common knowledge around these parts that catfish in large lakes can get as big as a volkswagon. Usually told in a similar vane of "what divers have seen". Of course, it could just be a wives tale. There are plenty of reasonably sized catfish, so I'm not sure why anyone would go to the trouble of actually trying to catch.
A modern day witchhunt.
I guess I don't have any hard proof to give ya, but I've always heard stories of freaky giant fish that live behind the Lock and Dams in the Mississippi that cause some divers to refuse to go down there. Of course these could all be old wives tales but I've heard them enough times to wonder.
From your FA
threats to the giant catfish include commercial fishing, their touting to tourists as a food said to impart wisdom, and dynamite blasting of their spawning ground.
Maybe photos of the big one aren't the problem
Unfortunately, in the more unregulated fishing areas in the World, explosive, and cyanide fishing is still popular.
The premise behind explosive fishing is to lob down a couple of sticks of your favourite explosive, and then wait for the stunned fish to float to the surface before scooping them into your boat. Unfortunately, it is extremely indiscriminate, can damage the remaining fish, and can cause extensive underwater damage to the seafloor.
Cyanide fishing is just as bad, where divers puff a small amount of cyanide into the water to stun fish before collection. This keeps the fish live, and results in no external physical damage. On a broader scale, mass poison release for wider area fishing is less effective, but just as dangerous to sealife. The other problem is that fish collect toxins in their bodies which then get passed through the food chain, to us.
If you wondered how they got the live fish into the tank at some Asian restaurants, it could very well be the result of cyanide fishing, especially if they are claiming them to be wild fish.InfoSec that matters, when it counts.
The biggest fish that I've caught in my life weighed 30 lbs., and it seemed like a monster. I don't think I want to catch a fish that weighs more than I do.
Mea navis aericumbens anguillis abundat
Most people who are stupid enough to swim in the Mississippi don't come back, the currents are more dangerous than the fish
Even right here in America catfish get pretty big. My middle school bus driver hauled in a 130lb and there were tales of fish way bigger than that in Pickwick Lake in Tennessee. Deep lakes and river channels apparently are favored by these monsters!
I've heard the same from somebody whose brother in law was a diver for a couple days on the Ohio River. The guy said he as going to try to move this tree trunk away from the lock and when he put his arms around it, it swam away. That was his last day on the job. Note that the mud and silt in the river makes for very poor visibility, so it wasn't like he could easily see it was a giant fish. Visibility is only a couple feet or so down there.
In Republican America phones tap you.
An interesting quote from this National Geographic article:
Perhaps damming and irrigation practices have contributed more to this fish's decline than overfishing.
I do alot of catfishing. Mostly catch and release. Ocasionaly i will hook one in a way that it isn't likley to survive and we will eat it but mostley they are released. I also do some paypond fishing were they stock large fish. this one is close to my fishing spot on the ohio and hocking rivers.
That being said, I have found that the minority of large cats I catch have worms or other visible parrasites. I have seen a few though. In the ohio river they are hit and miss. It seems that strong healthy fish are somewhat resistant to them and it is were the rivers or ponds become stagnant were i see the worm riddles fish. I'm not going to say this it always the case, just my observation.
Also, the meat from the large fish taste different then smaller cats. I find anythign over 5lbs usualy has some sort of metalic taste (and other flavers) to it unless it is farm raised. Larger fish, unless they are a type that naturaly gets large, generaly do more to keep the fish populated then one half its size too. I know of a hatchery that trippled its producion over 5-6 years just by keeping a dozen or so fish (bass and catfish) over thier "stocking" market size.
People think cats are bottom feeders but they actualy eat about anything. I usualy have good luck using live bluegill or isrealy carp. Sometimes cuting them in half does well too. A hint for those wanting to get the big ones would be to use large bait. It isn't that big fish are attracked to big bait rather the smaller fish won't bother it as much. If large fish are around, you shouldn't be bother too much by thier little brothers.
one more thing. What's up with the "bottom feeders" comment?
Most people think crabmeat is the most delicious meat in the world, certainly better than any steak. Crabs are the biggest bottom feeders of all. Same for lobsters and crawfish.