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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."
I feel so bad for his grandkids
time is a perception of a being's consciousness
time is your 6th sense, the wierd ones are 7+
lol...anyway, sounds tasty
but considering my experience of SE asia, i dont' think i might want to eat it....at least not before boiling it in a vat of super-pressurised steam for a few days....
Or that the original poster mistook July for April?
As a long time hunter of the Sturgeon I would have to say that this is recorded and the ones that get away are much bigger.
Blame it on global warming!
http://www.rajeshgoli.com
"It's amazing to think that giants like this still swim in some of the world's rivers"
Well not this one anymore...
-- All Gods were immortal.
-- S. Lem
Yum, I bet Birds-eye would have KILLED for that fish //worlds biggest fish fingers & chips//
Hey you're great, you just killed the biggest catfish ever... how amazing, how proud you must be! Come on guys, let's see how many amazing creatures can we kill today.
"The fish was caught and eaten in a remote village in Thailand along the Mekong River"
Wow. I hope they have freezers. That's a lot of fish!
--
Northern Virginia?
No really it was! Somebodies grand kids are never going to here the end of this!
Scared of flying, pointy things snce 1979!
and a fish.
I don't suppose we could feed it Darl McBride?
Don't let THEM immanentize the Eschaton!
There are catfish this big in the Mississippi.
Some divers, upon seeing them, quit diving that same day.
One down, not many left to go:
5 15_030515_giantcatfish.html
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/05/0
Still who cares about extinction, if you can get a nice photo out of it?
I for one welcome our new grizlly-catfish overlords.
"The fish was caught and eaten in a remote village in Thailand along the Mekong River,.." I just love this line. A rare sized fish is caught and eaten. It seems nothing has changed when people find something rare. Exploit it. Hey guys I have just caught the last Dodo, lets eat it! lol.
"The fish was caught and eaten in a remote village in Thailand along the Mekong River, home to more species of giant fish than any other river.
Local environmentalists and government officials negotiated to release the record-breaking animal[...]
But the fish, an adult male, later died. "
Being eaten does that you.
(Please browse at -1 to read this comment.)
Here is an article on these fish. 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.
Here is a photo of a giant stingray from the same area.
http://www.thebricktestament.com/the_law/when_to_
...it's good that I don't get fish that big, they wouldn't fit on my frying pan ^^
Thought you all would enjoy this. Full resolution AP photo of the catfish. http://ftp2.nationalgeographic.com/pressroom/GIANT %20CATFISH/GiantCatfish.jpg
I wonder if anyone has translated the song "Fish Heads" to Thai.
"Trademarks are the heraldry of the new feudalism."
Bill Klem surrenders
Athletic Scholarships to universities make as much sense as academic scholarships to sports teams.
and thanks for all the fish!
Wimps, what would they do if they saw a really big fish ?
Having said that I get scared by pike when I'm diving so I probably shouldn't be commenting.
Dont you think that if the land equivalent of that fish was found that there would be a massive amount of outrage that it was killed? I mean if they found a 646 coyote then dont you think it would be protecetd not killed? Sure people dont usually eat coyotes but what if it was a giant cow or pig we probably wouldnt kill it and eat it, and if we did then there would be alot of protests against it. Maybe humans just give fellow land creatures a little bit of a break.
The big fish usually go to the restaurants in Bangkok or Chiang Mai, where they go for a very high price. The locals would much rather sell it and be able to buy food for a few months than eat it in one feast. Maybe this village didn't have transport to get it there fresh.
Please note that it is not stated to whom the stuff matters. Obviously this stuff didn't matter to you. But in Soviet Russia, Stuff matters You!
This sounds like one catfish you wouldn't want to go noodling for! In the US people catch catfish up to 100lb or so by hand but I think 646lb fish might be a little much!
If intelligent life is too complex to evolve on its own, who designed God?
These URLs (from the previous posts) show that in some places you really CAN say, "We've got BIGGER fish to fry..." (DOH!)
T CATFISH/GiantCatfish.jpg
5 15_030515_giantcatfish.html
http://ftp2.nationalgeographic.com/pressroom/GIAN
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/05/0
At first, I wondered what sized fishing craft they have to use to haul/reel in that fish. I wondered if they used a 50-foot boat or a supertanker. But any of those three probably would inundate a typical river.
Previously: "Linux... Toward the Sunrise..." Now: "Linux... Toward the-- No, now, part of Every Sunrise"
Slashdot
News for nerds and fishermen. Stuff that matters and/or swims.
SIG: TAKE OFF EVERY 'CAPTAIN'!!
Looks like General Sherman to me.
Geeze I'm sorry, like every single other story on the site is worth a mention? Between bashing Microsoft for mistakes they haven't made yet and hyping the latest open source program that hasn't produced a solid outcome yet, I welcome something that I'll actually find slightly interesting.
Because the fish is both setting a record (such things matter to some), and it's also on the critically endangered species list (this can also be construed to mean being something "that matters").
"Thai fisheries officials had hoped to release this adult male Mekong giant catfish after they stripped it of milt for a captive-breeding program. But the whopping fish, which was as big a grizzly bear, didn't survive." http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/06/ph otogalleries/giantcatfish/photo3.html
It is a freshwater fish bigger than you. I know non-curiousity is popular among Republicans, but that doesn't mean all Slashdot readers should have to suffer. You're not interested? Then move along.
Probably not a good idea in light of this article (sorry you can't read the entire story without a subscription but you get the idea).
Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. - Voltaire
it appears that killing the largest and oldest fish has a disproportionate effect on the population as the big ones tend to be the most prolific breeders.
The Mekong giant catfish would be an awful lot better off if this particular great-great-granddaddy/grandmommy had stayed in the water.
http://www.carpecarpio.com/exoticfishpictures.html
http://www.thebricktestament.com/the_law/when_to_
as big as an elephant, but it got away.
Raise your children as if you were teaching them to raise your grandchildren, because you are.
If site linked is down, there is story and 4 larger photos at http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/06/ph otogalleries/giantcatfish/index.html
Closer to home, have you seen the giant cat?
Story of this fish in german.
Grundgesetz * 23. Mai 1949 - 30. November 2007 - http://www.vorratsdatenspeicherung.de/
I was researching this just yesterday so I'm not surprised to see it here. That fish is a whole heckuvva lot larger than the catfish I used to catch and eat as a kid.
/My affiliate link), Chapter 10, 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 ^_-). But cryptozoologists still try to hunt them down, even this summer as reported here. Chester Moore, the organizer of the event, claims that preservation is their goal as well as discovery. This is the biggest North American expedition to research cryptid catfish I've heard of, so it will be interesting to see if they get lucky. They'll need to discover the fish first, though, before talking about preservation. ::)
There are some great photos here at National Geographic's Article on the fish. My favorite photo is the one with an elderly gent cutting a steak larger than his torso. Dang! At that size I wonder if they taste any good?
Of course, Giant Catfish are the stuff of legends, and usually have a kernal of truth. (Links to other whoppers there as well)
Usually tales of the "big one that got away" or, in this case, "Catfish the size of Volkswagon Bugs" are dismissed, but according to Loren Coleman's "Mysterious America" (March 2004 ed.
Preservation of giant catfish is part of the WWF's mission, too, in Thailand & Cambodia. Just this month four giant catfish bred in captivity were released into the Mekong. So Giant Catfish are real in the Amazon, Europe, Asia, etc., but cryptozoological here in the States. Would be cool if they weren't, though.
This psuedoreport brought to you by Insomnia(TM)
The Splintered Mind - Overcoming
"Thai fisheries officials had hoped to release this adult male Mekong giant catfish after they stripped it of milt for a captive-breeding program. But the whopping fish, which was as big a grizzly bear, didn't survive." http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/06/ph otogalleries/giantcatfish/photo3.html
also on ESPN
I think this is hilarious:
The fishermen had hoped to sell the fish to environmental groups, which planned to release it to spawn upriver, but it died before it could be handed over and then was chopped up and sold in pieces to villagers as food.
Strange detail
Fishermen were lucky enough it was a catfish, and not a babelfish.
Ouch.
My other post is a First.
The news for nerds...stuff that matters...has nothing to do with the fish.
The stuff that matters is the creation of new metrics for describing fish size...that unit being the "grizzly bear".
This really gets rid of restrictions placed on fishey stories when using pounds, feet and inches.
"What are we having for dinner tonight?"
Note to self: Stay the f out of the Mekong river.
Actually, I know it so, that the largest freshwater fish is the European sturgeon (Huso Huso), http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/account s/information/Huso_huso.html
It can be well over 1000 kg.
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.
Check the date !
;)
In French, the name for April Fool is April Fish.
Slashdot is just exactly three months late, it can't be a mere chance
I have discovered a truly marvelous proof of killer sig, which this margin is too narrow to contain.
...it's a space station!
I browse Slashdot at +3, Funny
Why is this even on Slashdot? I dont have time for this. I have bigger fish to fry.
This is not an automated signature. I type this in to the bottom of every message.
Mmm fried catfish. Deeelicious.
Why not fork?
...they will nonchalantly point out, "Yeah, well, you should have seen the one that got away!"
They've killed Albert Finney!!
--------
This isn't the sig you're looking for. Move along.
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?
adding the Mekong River to my list of places never to swim :)
wait 'till you see its mother...
Judaism isn't all THAT weird. Of course it's the proper name of god that was originally meant, but you know how these fanatics get.
"Is this Winkhorst a nova criminal?" "No just a technical sergeant wanted for interrogation."
I wonder what pound-test line they were using? And I wonder if it broke the record. Or maybe they just used a big net.
WHOA, CAUGHT ME A MARLIN'!
space is pretty cool.
"You mean?"
"Yes, that's a cherry tomato!"
H.
When VCR's are outlawed, only outlaws will have VCR's.
bye bye to scienceblog.com for a few hours.
Nothing costs nothing
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?
Who is this G-d person? Is it Ged from Earthsea?
Caesar si viveret, ad remum dareris.
I wouldn't eat it.
Just curious. They will eat some pretty nasty things.
A modern day witchhunt.
There's always a bigger fish.
David Schneider-Joseph
Great, another one of earths wonders, and its prolly going to be killed, or put into some tank for its "protection" Stories like these remind me of the beavers that used to live in Canada that where around 300 lbs and the dodo birds. Humans seem to have this thing about wanting to be the only species on this planet, and the way things are going, it would seem we're going to get there sooner then later.
Induhvidual
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.
A Mr. Gordon of Gordon fishsticks has set out to create the largest ever big yellow box. More information at your local Costco/PriceClub in the near future...
Buy stock of Thai refrigerator companies!
Repeat after me: We are all individuals
... and you've fed him for a day, and another day, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and ...
Teach a man to fish, and [insert your own punchline here]
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.
Story > fish > German
Oh no! they've caught the babelfish!
beauty is only a light switch away
125lb (57kg) Catfish caught in Mississippi in Iowa: http://www.santeecoopercats.net/records-il.html
Obviously, this doesn't come close to 650lbs like the one from the Mekong. But it does come close to the one you linked.
Personally, I could care less who has the biggest fish. I'm just sick of people looking for every possible opportunity to rant about how dumb and ridiculous they think Americans are.
Oh, I see. Nevermind.
In Soviet Star Trek Matter starts YOU!
It takes a man to suffer ignorance and smile
Be yourself no matter what they say
In this world nothing is certain but death, taxes and flawed car analogies.
You do realize catfish are one of the most eaten fish in the world?
that said, this thing is NOT for eating (though they did eat it). Big freshwater fish like that a usually full of worms and are disgusting. We have lots of 50 lb. cats where I live, but no one would think of eating one.
THANK YOU!
i can't believe the story got this far without them
May you be touched by His Noodly Appendage. RAmen.
They've killed Ed Bloom!
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
Your respect for diversity is chilling.
And we all know that He only made that rule up when nobody could stop giggling when he made proclamations like "And lo, I am the Lord God Clarence..."
Possibilities: The fish ATE a bear. Overfishing caused the growth (build a better mousetrap, nature makes a better mouse. Build a better fishing net.....) Fish are having obisity problems too.
All misspellings and grammatical errors in the above post are intentional and part of my artistic expression.
Hmm I wonder why would anyone try to catch any fish at all?
Here in Canada thousands of fishermen travel big distances for bigger catches and always take their cameras with them. Sometimes barbecue equipment too.
Sure beats me why.
"Give orange me give eat orange me eat orange give me eat orange give me you." -Nim Chimpsky
Besides the fishing license issue, how can I get my boat shipped over there? I think it is too big to check as luggage on the airplane.
What kind of bait did they use? What test line? Apparently the story was slashdotted so I couldn't read it.
I wanna go fishing now!
"It's generally considered common knowledge around these parts"
Oh well it must be true then. After all , who needs empirical evidence when you've got common knowledge. Hell , why did we even bother with the last 200 years of science when we could have just asked local yokels for an explanation for everything!
the catfish eat YOU!
Yea it more or less is really.
I can't pass up a big plate of fried catfish with lots of hot sauce. And some cornbread, collards, and macaroni & cheese.
Wash that down with some icy cold beer on a hot day. Now that's livin'!
-Peter
PS: I think you meant accrete.
Giant catfish? Can only be Khan of Liberty Meadows fame. :)
Carbon based humanoid in training.
Noodling for catfish is popular in Oklahoma. I would argue that, after tractor pull, it is the greatest contribution of redneck culture to American sport. I hope that news of the Mekong Catfish will lead Oklahoma's best to the ultimate challenge. Who will be catching whom?
an ill wind that blows no good
Here's hoping those organisms that don't "fit with our way of life" don't eventually include our own species. Natural selection includes you and me, too, however "slightly different" you think we may be. And mass extinctions don't tend to leave the same species at the top of the pyramid, unless you're counting prokaryotic cells or something.
Environmentalism is enlightened self-interest, not some tree-hugging, static-world conceit about spotted owls and condors being awfully kewl.
"Fundamentalism" isn't about divine morality. It's about human authority.
it took ten minutes for the hole in the water to fill up...
Actually, these giant catfish are quite a delicacy. The price is such that many locals have never had an opportunity to eat it: only a handful are taken each season and the top Bangkok restaurants buy them.
'If I never saw it, how can you say it's extinct'?
Keep your eyes closed, man, if the view bothers you. Eventually, there will only one species left to go extinct.
when looking for new or rare fish/birds/rats... etc... thats exactly what they do.
Clarence? Atta-boy, Clarence!
Ok, but I'm not sure what that has to do with the way they choose to inscribe "God".
http://feisar.de/stuff/breakingnews.jpg
Who is G-d person?
Simple, in certain faiths the word God can not be written without certain rules.
My jewish friends do this, they write it like this so that when the document is tossed in the trash, it's not act against god.
there are some rules ot the termination of documents with the word "God". so find yourself a good Rabbi and ask him.
if you see me, smile and say hello.
If this G-d dude didn't want me to eat catfish, then why did H- make them so dang tasty?
-JDF
It sites no "accepeted" news service information confirming that this infact did happen.
It also does not include validating data such as a date.
Sheesh, c'mon, nerds. This story was all over the wires on Tuesday!! Is it really THAT slow a news day that a fish (which has absolutely no "technical" features or, really, having anything to do with technology) is one of your top stories? Maybe you could have been more like CNN today. THEIR top story this morning was Brooke Shields slamming Tom Cruise over his comments on psychology!
Someone shoot me already.....
cat fishes you!
So let me get this straight....
1. Catch Fish
2. Eat Fish
3. Negotiate to release Fish
4. ???
5. Fish dies.
I think there's some confusion in the chain of events here, or environmentalists are unfamiliar with the side-effects of being eaten.
perl -e "eval pack(q{H*},join q{},qw{70 72696e74207061636b28717b482a7d2c717b343 637323635363534323533343430617d293b})"
They ate the damn thing!
Might this big BBQ grill be big enough to grill 'em?!? ;-)
Snopes should have an article on this any day now.
This is a catfish. A bottomfeeder. It survives by sucking up the wastes that acrete on the floor of its chosen body of water.
And you think the wastes that float to the top of the water are somehow more wholesome?
Have it your way. More catfish for the rest of us. In case anybody's wondering, the correct way to prepare those suckers is to coat them in a cornmeal batter and either deep-fry or pan-fry them until the outside is golden-brown and the inside is cooked all the way through. The Stonecat Cafe in Hector, NY serves them with a smoked tomato coulis, but cocktail sauce will do in a pinch.
I don't want articles like this to waste my time here! What's next, photoshop contests? Let Fark.com handle this shit and give me more tech news, please.
So long, and thanks for all the fish.
J.
You're only jealous cos the little penguins are talking to me.
Or El Nino.
Clearly I forgot to equip my +5 Codpiece of Karma.
Male grizzlys weigh up to 1200 pounds. Females weigh in at 700. I think the author meant, as big as a black bear.
c ts.html
http://www.bear.org/Grizzly/Grizzly_Brown_Bear_Fa
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.
I SCUBA dive and have personally seen catfish as large as big dogs. I have not seen any as big as the one in this article, but I would believe that it is very possible.
Aych tea tea pea colon slash slash slash dot dot org slash
Here's a photo of the Illinois record blue cat (124 pounds), caught this June.
Lots of petrified grits
I wouldn't eat it. Well, being a pragmatist, I would actually. If I were the only chance for a meal I had all week.
I'm not sure if I'd eat you... No, I wouldn't... Not even if you were my only chance for a meal all week. :-p
"Live free or don't."
A bottomfeeder. It survives by sucking up the wastes that acrete on the floor of its chosen body of water.
I once caught a 350 pound lawyer.
33. The War Of The Simpsons
First aired: 5/2/1991
Writer: John Swartzwelder
Director: Matt Kirkland
Guest star:
Global rating: 7.90
When Homer humiliates Marge at a party they've thrown for their friends and neighbors, the only thing that can save their marriage is a weekend retreat for married couples run by Reverend Lovejoy up at Catfish Lake. Marge is determined to fix their marriage, but Homer is more determined to catch General Sherman, the freakishly large catfish that lives in the lake. Marge tells Homer that if he really loves her, he won't spend any time fishing, but while taking a walk along the lake one morning, Homer finds himself unable to resist the chance to catch General Sherman. When Marge finds him wrestling the gigantic fish into a boat, she scolds him for lying to her. Homer proves his love for Marge the only way he can: He lets General Sherman go.
I fondly remember 'fish tales' from grandpa and his friends as a kid regarding the White Sturgeon of the Columbia river. Stories of fish so big they could not be pulled into the boat. Records wise a fish pulled out of the water near Vancouver by a gill net was over 1,200 pounds. And the largest ever caught was a white sturgeon supposedly weighing in at over 1,500 pounds, but that was the 1800s and must be regarded appropriately. Now you rarely get larger than 400 pounds.
On a side note a 640 pound sturgeon was found dead in Lake Washington (yes this is the lake largely IN the city of Seattle) in the mid 1980s. This caused quite a hubbub that even I recall as a kid. A 5 1/2 foot long sturgeon was recently caught in the lake by a University of Washington team studying the fish stocks.
I think 646 lbs is more along the lines of a Black Bear. Grizzly bears are much larger, almost the size of a polar bear. I believe that they weigh from 1000-2000 lbs.
Hopefully I didn't put any [] around my words.
Everything you have ever eaten was something disgusting at some point. Animals eat plants and other animals that humans would never directly eat, as well as things humans do eat which were graded unfit for human consumption. Plants eat animal feces and dead animals (after said dead animals are first eaten by microbes). It's all part of the food chain, and we're a part of it too.
I wonder how big the prawns get?
The Russians have won. They have made the world a cesspool of distrust, greed, fear and hate.
"We have lots of 50 lb. cats where I live, but no one would think of eating one."
So, you are not from Vietnam.
I for one welcome our new catfish overlords!
Umm... no.
1. Catfish are predisposed to growing quite large if given sufficient space.
2. The Mekong Giant Catfish is a sub-species that generally grows to humongous sizes. People catch record setting or near record setting catfish in the Mekong river every year. There's nothing unnatural about it.
The real problem at the moment is that the popularity of these catfish has some worried that they will be fished to extinction.
Pics of Catfish caught
A 140 pound Catfish caught in Texas
Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
Yeah, but those are fish that actually taste good. Have you ever tried eating catfish?
If I don't put anything here, will anyone recognize me anymore?
So I read TFA from National Geogrpahic, and the comments here on Slashdot... granted, I haven't had my morning coffee yet so I my reading comprehension is broken... but how the heck did they catch this thing? I'd imagine a normal rod and reel would be ridiculous,and if they blasted it out of the water, it would've died instantly.
What was the bait... a human?
Imagine trying to Noodling just to have that think jump on your arm! I can't believe "Noodling": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noodling
a noodler goes underwater to depths ranging from only a few feet to up to twenty feet. Placing his hand inside a discovered catfish hole, a noodler uses his arm as bait to entice the fish. If all goes as planned, the catfish will swim forward and latch onto the fisherman's hand and arm.
Ok, now that we've been informed that 1 Grizzly amounts to 646 pounds, could someone PLEASE translate this to European units? How many VW Beetles is this? Sorry, wrong unit. I forgot what is the official mass unit. St. Paul's Dome full of water, maybe?
Nuffsaid
________
Don't know about his cat, but Schroedinger is definitely dead.
Does this mean they're not allowed to clear this page from cache, now?
There they were, sitting in the van with all those dials, and the cat was dead. -V. Marchetti, CIA
The word god (capitalized or not) is really a pronoun. It's just in a monotheistic culture where the only instance is a singleton, that you can equate the pronoun with the name. Need to distinguish between Athena and her high priestess? the term "god" is a a good way to do so, but it doesn't distinguish between Hades, Athena, and Jupiter.
>> My jewish friends do this, they write it like this so that when the document is tossed in the trash, it's not act against god.
It seems to me this is a pretty harmless way to show respect to their chosen deity. I don't think the other posters needed to mock it. If he wants to spell God "G-d" that's fine.
I'll respect his devotion even if I don't share it. People do a *lot* of hideous things to each other for their faith and this isn't one of them. It's not like he's out blowing crap up or anything.
http://request-header.info
An interesting quote from this National Geographic article:
Perhaps damming and irrigation practices have contributed more to this fish's decline than overfishing.
I was hoping that it had three eyes.
I'm personally calling BS on this whole story until proven otherwise. I hope Snopes.com and the other hoax websites check it out soon. Just because a few websites have these images doesn't make it true.
Is that credible enough?
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/8404622/
"With sufficient thrust, pigs fly just fine." -- RFC 1925
It's amazing to think that giants like this still swim in some of the world's rivers
[clouseau]Not anymore![/clouseau]
Sturgeon, now that is some tasty fish.
Geez, how off-the-normal topic is this.. but..here is a good area for Sturgeon fishing.
So if the cats were a bit smaller, say 15-25lbs, then you would think of eating one?
Mass Extinction Underway
The Sixth Extinction
The Holocene Extinction Event
The Current Mass Extinction
The earth, it appears, might be better off without us.
As a born Kentuckian Old Bay Catfish Fry. I remember summer evenings after fishing all day in the family pond eating these and hush puppies, mmmmmmmmmm.
An Education is the Font of All Liberty
Some divers, upon seeing them, quit diving that same day.
European rivers have been home to some of the largest catfish ever observed, on par with this Mekong fish. Silurus glanis, which may grow to 3 meters in length, are considered scarce now, as commercial river traffic has apparently injured or killed many of the very large ones.
Don't assume these creatures get so large eating only refuse. They'll dine on dead or injured fish, animal carcasses and have been known to actually go after live prey. At 3 meters/600+ lbs I could imagine one of these capable of devouring a small human.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
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Comment removed based on user account deletion
Did you actually read the story on the 140 pound catfish? It appears not.
If you need web hosting, you could do worse than here
He misspelled it, it should be spelled Gord.
~S
"largest freshwater fish ever".... which was promptly eaten.
Place sig here.
Questionless devotion to a religion is not to far off from blowing stuff up. Show me an religion that says all religions are equal. You can't because all religions believe they are the correct one, hence the others are slightly inferior.
Actually? No. I just skimmed it, so I am a bit guilty of a flub there. But if you read the page, it does state that 150 lb catfish have been recorded in the United States, and links to an ESPN story about an 80 pound catfish. The picture in the article is a 167 lb. catfish caught in Italy. :-)
Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
Sure. Catfish is good, although occasionally you'll run into one that tastes of earth. Just be sure to get 'em fresh.
You had me at "dicks fuck assholes".
questionless devotion, yes. That is bad, but I would hope everyone does question. There are many seemingly foolish acts of devotion that harm no one. Sikhs don't cut their hair. Orthodox Jews might not "mar the corners" of their beard. Amish might avoid zippers. None of it harms anyone else, and if it makes them feel closer to their deity or more observant, there is no harm.
It doesn't deserve anyone's mockery.
>> Show me an religion that says all religions are equal.
Give Buddhism a whirl.
http://request-header.info
Not so. I'd heard that around here, about catfish at the bottom of Gavin's Point Dam, from my dad, who says an aunt told him, back in the 60's, and an uncle. However, Snopes says otherwise.
I just don't think it's fair that it has become socially appropriate to be prejudiced, as long as it's against Americans.
Heaven forbid the day that humans become so numerous and well-connected that culture becomes homogenized. Who will be left to hate?
You just haven't had catfish prepared correctly. Sit back, kids, as I share with you an age-old family recipe, handed down to me by my great grandpappy, on how to cook the perfect catfish.
The first rule is, you use nothing but natural, untreated, chemical free hickory. You build up a nice big roaring fire with the hickory and let it burn down until all that's left is red hot smoldering coals.
While the fire is burning down, gut the fish, leaving the skin and bones in, and pack it in ice to keep it nice and fresh. Once the fire is ready, take a fresh cut hickory plank, and nail the catfish to it, with a single nail between the eyes. Wrap the fish and board up in aluminum foil, and bury it down in the smoldering embers.
Allow the fish to cook down in the embers for at least an hour, letting the meat get so tender it begins to fall into pieces. Unwrap the foil, pull out the nail, dump the fish in the river, and eat the board. There you go, the best catfish you'll ever have!
I'm going to get my picture of me ridin' a real live full-size Jackelope (not the baby one shown here), make me a press release, and get my story on Slashdot!
That is all.
in Libraries of Congress?
Is "grizzly bear" the future of arbitrary units? Live at 10: Netcraft confirms Libraries of Congress is dead!
I hate to be a pita here, but when there's a kernel of truth in it it isn't prejudice, it's observation. For example:
I spent a while travelling over there a while ago, as my parents were working at the University of Champaign-Urbana. Now, I have the spiffiest English accent. Of all the people I met who tried to guess my nationality, fully 75% thought I was Australian. East coast and west coast and University people made up the 25%, and I'm guessing you're in one of those categories or similar, so I understand your pain.
J.
You're only jealous cos the little penguins are talking to me.
Fifty years ago, I heard rumors there were channel cats this big in the Mississippi River back in the Twenties. Might have been sturgeon, though.
``Tension, apprehension & dissension have begun!'' - Duffy Wyg&, in Alfred Bester's _The Demolished Man_
You know, that's a real good question. I have a rabbi that lives close to me. I should pose that question to him. Seems like a fun question with some possible insights to judism.
if you see me, smile and say hello.
A juvenile grizzly bear, maybe. They can grow to more than 1,500 pounds, more than twice the weight of this unfortunate catfish.
http://www.thescarymonkeyshow.com/encyclopedias/bi opics/giantfishbear.jpg
I always thought that buddhism is a Philosophy?
but I looked it up on wiki and sure enough it's a religion.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism
if you see me, smile and say hello.
*wince* I can't imagine mistaking an English accent for an Australian one. Somewhat in their defense, aside from the costal areas and big cities the U.S. is not very culturally diverse. Most of the accents heard by people outside those areas are on TV. Though you'd think with the amount of TV people watch around here, they'd pick up something. They're probably spending too much time with the "reality shows".
Anyway, as you can see, I'm critical as well. I don't really even have a problem with people forming an expectation based on the fact that someone is an American. I just don't think it's fair to act on that expectation, before getting a bit of confirmation. I've been on the receiving end of that too many times. It wastes time and effort, as I typically take time to differentiate myself, and they typically take time to apologize.
It doesn't deserve anyone's mockery.
I disagree. His belief may be harmless, but it is also quite silly. Some beliefs are well deserving of mockery. And believing that some all-powerful, invisible, mythological creature is going to be reading slashdot and take offense at the use of his name spelled correctly is certainly one of them. God's boss probably doesn't even know he is reading Slashdot. He'd probably dock His pay if he caught him in the act.
Quite an experience to live in fear, isn't it? That's what it is to be a slave.
have come out under the Freshmeat section?
Confirmed. I love the chemistry set aspect. Like any great geek hobby, there are endless subspecialities -- by species, region etc.
Just a warning to novices: do your homework before you buy any fish, especially cat fish. Practically every aquarium store I visit has cute little red tails fry, about two inches long. They don't warn you that they'll grow tomassive fish twenty times as long and eight thousand times as massive. Many of the "sharks" that are sold are cats that grow to two feet or longer.
Corydoras species are good though and probably are the only catfish a beginner should attempt.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
Personally, I could care less who has the biggest fish.
:)
You should use "couldn't care less" instead of "could care less". If you "could care less" it doesn't specify a particular amount that you care - "I could care less, or I could care more". If you say you "couldn't care less", however, there is no smaller amount that you could care. That's pretty low
</grammar nazi> (sorry...)
One good turn - gets all the covers.
Does anyone know which fishing rod was used to catch that fish? Shame they did not hold it up for the standard fisherman-holding-really-big-fish picture.
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.
Great. So people deliberately fish them out, and they never get a chance to breed a super-species of giant catfish that will conquer humanity once and for all. *sigh* How boring.
Why can't we just let evolution do it's job?
Remember "Bring 'em on"? *sigh
I'd much rather see one that says all *people* are equal. That's much more important to me. I know of at least one - and the one I'm thinking of doesn't shun other faiths, either.
http://fwp.state.mt.us/hunting/records/bodysize.as px
.
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1,102 lb grizzly taken down in montana
In my opinion there are bigger ones out there too
Peace,
Ex-MislTech
google "32 trillion offshore needs IRS attention"
They are certainly good fried, but there's another very popular way in Louisiana called courtboullion.
Ummmmmmmmm. Grizzly-sized catfish.
668: Neighbour of the Beast
They usually grow that big in areas with high pollution. Unfortunately, that means that eating them = putting yourself at risk...
-Palal
I recall as a kid back in the 70's in Zanesville, Ohio hearing that divers went looking for something just under the dam (by the 'world' famous Y-Bridge) and came up so scared that they vowed they'd never go back down, saying they saw catfish as big as a volkswagon beetle down there. Always thought if it as a myth, but hey, who knows?
"Artificial Intelligence usually beats real stupidity."
It's pretty damn fun, I never played the original.
Jaysyn
There is a war going on for your mind.
Maybe crap just makes everything taste better. Maybe they should grind up crap and serve it on food. Instead of Parmesian on your pasta how about some crap sprinkles?
If you make people think they're thinking, they'll love you; But if you really make them think, they'll hate you. -Don
No from Louisiana, and people aren't shy about eating "gross shit" here, and neither am I. Vietnamese have nothing on us :). Plus, there's a heck of a lot of Vietnamese immigrants here.
You obviously have no idea whatsoever what a pronoun is.
Don't blame me; I'm never given mod points.