A NEW ZEALAND fisherman has landed a whopper Pacific blue fin tuna, believed to be a world record at 325kg.
Angler Steve McCowan, fishing off the South Island's West Coast yesterday, said knew he had a big one on the line.
"I certainly knew it was a big one 2-½ later," he said.
He was fishing off the deck of a boat about 6am when the big fish bit, the New Zealand Press Association reported.
Standing on the back deck, Mr McCowan fought with, and reeled in, the 325kg Pacific blue fin tuna.
Mr McCowan said he'd been fishing for about 20 years and this was the big catch.
A 325kg tuna can fetch very high prices in Japan, but that is not the fate for his fish.
"It'll probably be going on a wall somewhere."
This morning, Mr McCowan was making sure all the paper work was filled out correctly for his catch to be officially recorded and entered as the world record.
