VietNamNet Bridge - Hundreds of people blocked the Rach Muong Bridge in District 9 in Ho Chi Minh City on the morning of Thursday, October 16, to see a giant barb of nearly 130kg, caught by a Saigonese fisherman in a branch of the Dong Nai River.

The lucky fisherman was 35-year-old Tran Minh Dung. Dung said he dropped the nets in the branch of Dong Nai River in District 9 in the evening on October 15. At 6am on October 16, he pulled the nets out of the water and saw the giant barb. He moved the net with the giant barb to the foot of Rach Muong Bridge, several hundred meters from the place where the nets had been dropped.

Hundreds of people flocked to the bridge to see the giant fish. The fish was about 1.5 m long and 0.5 m wide. "At first I did not know what species the fish was, then some people said that this was a giant barb, which are rare," Dung said. At noon on the same day, Dung sold the fish to a trader from Thu Duc District for VND192 million (nearly $10,000). The fish was transported by a cab that had to pass the blockade of hundreds of curious people.

Dung said he had been catching fish in the branch of the Dong Nai River for six to seven years. This was the first time he had caught such a big fish.

The giant barb or Siamese giant carp is the largest species of cyprinid in the world. These migratory fish are found only in the Mae Klong, Mekong and Chao Phraya river basins in Indochina. Its numbers have declined drastically due to habitat loss and overfishing, and it is now considered critically endangered.

VNE/VNN