A fisherman who reeled in a 480-pound swordfish made sure the meat was not wasted, and a Florida community is thankful.
Captain Jose Rodriguez Jr. of Cudjoe Key helps run a fishing charter that took a Pennsylvania family out on February 18, Fox News reported Friday.
However, the group did not expect their catch to be quite so large and were shocked when they landed the massive swordfish.
Video footage shows the men onboard working to pull the swordfish into the boat:
Rodriguez, who helps run Above & Below Fishing Adventures, said it was difficult capturing the creature.
“We fought the fish for five hours, and it took us at least another half hour to control the fish on the side of the boat before we could pull it over the side,” he explained.
A close up photo shows the massive creature’s size:
They placed the fish under bags of ice, sprayed it with saltwater, then filleted it onboard, leaving them with over 200 pounds of meat. The Pennsylvania family took nearly 30 pounds home but donated the rest to neighbors in the area.
“The whole community was eating swordfish that day,” Rodriguez told Fox. He later said everyone knows about the catch and it brought him a lot of attention.
“It’s just about being in the right place at the right time, and it ended up happening to me,” he stated.
According to the Florida Museum website, swordfish are mainly a warm-water species.
“The swordfish is commonly observed in surface waters, although it is believed to swim to depths of 2,100 feet (650 m) or greater, where the water temperature may be just above freezing,” the site reads. “One adaptation which allows for swimming in such cold water is the presence of a ‘brain heater,’ a large bundle of tissue associated with one of the eye muscles, which insulates and warms the brain.”
The site says swordfish can grow up to 177 inches long and weigh up to 1,400 pounds.