A Chinese angler who caught an endangered eel larger than a small child has turned down offers exceeding 7,000 GBP to buy it and instead has released it back into the wild.
The fisherman with a heart of gold, surnamed Wang, is from the county of Sanmen in East China’s Zhejiang Province.
The 56-inch Japanese eel (Anguilla japonica) weighing 16.3 lbs is otherwise considered a delicacy in East Asia and especially Japan, but it is also classed as endangered on the Red List of Threatened Species compiled by the International Union for Conservation of Nature – or IUCN.
The villager hooked the giant eel on 18th December and showed it off to his impressed neighbours before taking it home. Footage of the catch shows a child being placed next to the animal for a size comparison too.
Wang said: “I was really very excited when I caught the eel, because I knew it would be worth a lot of money. But after I got home, my wife told me the eel is rare, and that we shouldn’t kill it.”
He added: “Someone offered me 65,000 RMB (7,460 GBP) for it, but I turned it down. No matter how much money you have, you’ll use it all one day anyway, but if I release it back into the wild, that benefits everyone.”
Wang admitted: “I’m illiterate and we’re not very well off, so I really wanted to sell it.”
Many villagers said it was the first time they had seen such a large eel, Wang said.
Several of them also watched as he put the eel in a large red basin and threw it back into the river.
The eel was released with a red ribbon, which is a customary way of marking auspicious occasions such as weddings or the purchasing of new cars.
To find out more about the author, editor or agency that supplied this story – please click below.
Story By: Scott Feng, Sub-Editor: Jamie King, Agency: AsiaWire
