REEL BIG FISH: 770-pound freshwater stingray landed on rod and reel

freshwater-stingray A very large pregnant freshwater stingray was recently pulled from the Mae Klong River. According to the Telegraph.co.uk, the angler—Ian Welch—with 13 men took “90 minutes” to land the giant freshwater ray (Himantura chaophraya), which “measured 7ft long and 7ft wide.” After the ray was brought to shore and photographed, it was released.

According to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, the giant freshwater stingray is considered a vulnerable species, since the “species has been and will continue to be adversely affected in much of its range by a complex of factors including directed and bycatch fisheries and habitat alteration or destruction, [so] the possibility of extinction in the wild for some subpopulations is considered extremely high.” FishBase indicates that the giant freshwater stingray has a “very low, minimum population doubling time [of] more than 14 years,” and the giant rays are occasionally caught for “meat and possibly its cartilage” in the “demersal gillnet and longline fisheries operating in riverine and estuarine areas.”

Worldwide, giant freshwater fish are threatened with extinction, so the Megafishes Project is working to raise awareness, educate, gather data, and protect freshwater giants.

Images © BNPS.co.uk were found here.

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12 thoughts on “REEL BIG FISH: 770-pound freshwater stingray landed on rod and reel”

wow…..that is the biggest one I ever saw. Actually, they are very gentle creatures. My daughter and I went to sea world and she petted them. one would come up and stick his “nose” at her, and she would pet his nose.

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