A giant white sturgeon over 3m long, with an estimated age of at least over 100 years, has just been caught by a group of fishermen in British Columbia, USA.

The group of fishermen, including Steve Ecklund and Mark Boise, said they went fishing near Lillooet, British Columbia, with guides from River Monster Adventures, Nick McCabe and Tyler Speed, on June 19.

Here, the group discovered a giant “monster” under the water. Due to its large size and fierce struggles, it took the fishermen more than two hours to get it on board. The image from the video shows the “monster” jumping out of the water, revealing its true size.

To catch the sturgeon, the group used sonar equipment to help probe the river. With the newly caught sturgeon, a representative of River Monster Adventures said that it has not been tagged, so it is suspected that this is the first time the animal has been caught in the net. Up to 307cm in length, the animal has a waist circumference of 145cm.

After capturing and photographing it, the group of fishermen released it back into the wild according to British Columbia regulations over the past 25 years. If they break this law, they will be severely fined.

Experts say that each breeding season, sturgeon can lay up to 3 million eggs, but they only lay once every few years. Faced with current threats, the number of sturgeon in the wild cannot quickly recover.

“This is the biggest fish in the company’s fishing history. It’s like a real dinosaur,” said Mr. Ecklund, a member of the fishing team.

The white sturgeon is the largest freshwater fish in North America. It can be up to 4.3m long and weigh 680kg. According to the Lower Fraser River Sturgeon Conservation Society, the creature can live for over 150 years.

In British Columbia as well as other habitats in California, the number of sturgeon is severely reduced due to habitat destruction, reduced food sources. The state of California has also seen a very low increase in sturgeon populations over the past five years. Hunting is also a problem because sturgeon eggs have a very high value in the black market.

In 2003, the Canadian Wildlife Ratings Board classified the sturgeon as endangered, with the exception of the Lower Fraser River population which is now classified as “threatened”.