| Thai fishermen netted what proved to be a 646 pound catfish -- truly the one that did not get away. The catfish is believed to have been the world's largest fresh water fish ever caught. The nearly 9 foot long Mekong giant catfish was landed on May 1st by some villagers in Chiang Khong, in remote northern Thailand. The fish was studied by Thai fishery department officials, according to Zeb Hogan who leads an international project to locate and study the largest freshwater fish across the planet. Thailand has been keeping statistics on fish since 1981. The fishermen who netted the giant catfish hoped to sell the fish to environmental groups who planned to release the fish up stream to spawn. However, the catfish died before that could occur. As a result, the fish was chopped up and sold for food.
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