During a six-day fishing trip on the high seas in the Cape Verde archipelago, more than 600 kilometers from the westernmost tip of Africa, a group of South African anglers including Steve Andrews, Ryan Williamson and Ben Vorster had “abundant” according to the report. unexpected way.
One of the team members, angler Vorster recounted his memorable experience. It was the early morning of May 19, when he had just released the bait, this angler suddenly noticed a large creature biting the hook. He immediately jumped into position, starting a tug-of-war that seemed “unbalanced” with the opponent.
“When the fish took a bite, it jumped to the surface so quickly that we couldn’t figure out how big it was,” Andrews recalls.
Originally a skilled and experienced angler, Vorster struggled for half an hour with the support of two companions to pull the “creature” onto the boat. When it emerged from the water, the three suddenly realized it was an Atlantic blue marlin with “huge size”.
After taking measurements, the animal was determined to be 3.6m long, weighing about 621kg. Its caudal fin alone is nearly 1m wide. According to the International Sports Fishing Association (IGFA), this is the largest Atlantic bluefin fish in the past 30 years ever caught by anglers.
Previously, the world record was recorded for the largest caught Atlantic bluefish weighing 636kg. The creature was captured by angler Paulo Amorim in the waters off the coast of Brazil in 1992.
The blue marlin is native to the Atlantic Ocean. They are one of the largest bony fishes in the world, can reach a length of 5m, weigh 820kg.
This fish has high commercial value because of its high fat content. They are distributed throughout the tropical and subtropical waters of the Atlantic Ocean, living in open water far from the shore, hunting marine life near the surface of the water.
According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), blue marlin is rarely hunted by anyone other than humans. Due to overfishing, it is on the endangered species list.