Hundreds of people who couldn’t resist the sight of a catfish as big as a small boat caused quite a stir in Long Xuyên Province.

A female trader living in a hamlet in Long Xuyên City’s Mỹ Khánh Commune had deposited the catfish in front of her house, causing a traffic jam.

The fish, 2.3 metres long weighing 200kg, was purchased from a fisherman who had caught it in the Mekong River in Cambodia.

A local fisherman named Tùng said he had never seen such a huge catfish.

“If I saw such a catfish in my fishnet, I would do nothing but run away.”

The trader sold the catfish to a restaurant in HCM City’s District 7 for around VNĐ450,000 – VNĐ600,000 (US$19.5-26) per kilo.

Lý Nhị Nghĩa, the restaurant owner, hired eight young men to transport the fish in a truck to HCM City.

“Our guests are very fond of this kind of catfish,” he said.VNS