Lanzarote has witnessed a great milestone in the fishing of our country. A fisherman from the town of La Santa, located in the north of the Canary Island, has managed to catch what is, in all probability, the largest monkfish ever caught in Spanish waters, as reported by the local newspaper Lancelot Digital.
This specimen has a weight close to 54 kilograms and it was located 300 meters deep in the waters of the aforementioned area of Lanzarote. The statistics collected throughout the planet show that the largest specimen of this species that has been caught so far weighed 56 kilos, only two more than the one found in La Santa. In the Canary Islands, the monkfish that are usually caught are around 10 kilos, far from the weight reached by it.
To get an idea of the size of the monkfish caught almost 100 servings of 300 grams can be obtained, once cleaned of cartilage, central spine and without having cut the head, which could add 10 kilos. Despite the fact that until a few years ago it was a fish despised by the fishing industry, over time it has become a species highly valued by gastronomy.
Year of finds
This has not been the only large find that has been seen in Spanish fishing this year. In April, a bullhead of about 100 kilos was caught in the Alcalá del Río Dam, in the Guadalquivir river, as reported at the time by Ecologists in Action Andalucía. The environmental group called for an “effective eradication” of this species because is listed as an ‘invasive species’ and it poses a danger to other fish, birds and small mammals.
Months later, in October, one of the most colossal catches of our coasts took place in the trap of Ceuta. A gigantic sunfish, of a dark hue, it was caught in the nets of some fishermen who were perplexed when they saw a specimen of such dimensions. 3 meters from mouth to tail, 3.20 meters wide and more than 1,000 kilograms weight made this specimen the largest and most spectacular ever sighted in our waters.
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