738 Pound Bluefin Tuna Caught; World Record? (PHOTO)
Nathan Adams has a big fish tale to tell friends! The angler recently caught a 738-pound Pacific bluefin tuna off the coast of New Zealand, which may be a new record.
According to reports, Adams was fishing as part of a competition off Houhora, New Zealand. The competition was sponsored by the International Game Fish Association, which is still searching to see if Adams' catch is, in fact, a world record. If approved, it will claim the title of largest catch and bump off the current leader, a 716-pound Pacific tuna.
This is not the first large catch for Adams, even within the same competition. He also took home a 788-pound black marlin, which set a record for the Muriwai Sport Fishing Club.
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Adams plans to have the bluefin mounted in his home if he can convince Lisa, his wife. It will "probably [be] in place of a 30-pound snapper-but she says it will be like mounting a sofa," he told reporters.
The Muriwai Fishing Club is based in New Zealand and has approximately 250 members. Adams' other catch, the 788-pound black marlin, will most likely be mounted in the Club's new facilities.
Should he have an interest to sell the tuna, though, there is definitely a market. In January, a 754-pound tuna sold for $396,000 in Tokyo. That fish, says The Associated Press, was caught in the waters off of Hokkaido. What is the reason for the fish frenzy? Japan consumes over 80 percent of the Atlantic and Pacific tuna that are caught each year. The country heavily relies upon seafood for its consumers.
There is some controversy among conservationists who see the number of bluefin tuna diminishing. "The International Union for Conservation of Nature…has listed Southern and Atlantic bluefin tuna as endangered species," noted the Telegraph.
However, the Japanese government successfully prevented Atlantic and Pacific tuna from being listed as endangered.
