Thanh Nien News
20 March 2015
An extremely rare giant barb weighing 135 kilograms have been transported from Cambodia and sold to a restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City, local media reported.
The fish, which is 1.8 meters long and has a circumference of 1.7 meters, was caught by a Cambodian fisherman.
Traders in An Giang Province learnt about the news, traveled to Cambodia to buy the fish and brought it to Vietnam on Thursday.
A representative of the restaurant refused to reveal the transaction value.
However, each kilogram of a giant barb could be sold at up to VND4 million (around US$200), according to some sources.
That means the price of this newly-caught fish could be in a range of thousands to tens of thousands of dollars.
Giant barb, native in the Mekong River Basin, has become severely threatened in recent years due to pollution and fishing pressure.
According to National Geographic, a giant barb may reach 300 kg but those exceeding 100 kg (220 pounds) have become “exceptionally rare”.