Man Catches Fish That Is Over 200 Years Old
11 years ago

Get a load of this beast of the sea. Experts are estimating that it’s over 200 years old.

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The 40-pound shortraker rockfish was caught off the coast of Alaska by Henry Lieberman (pictured showing off his trophy) during a deep sea excursion on June 21. The species is known to live at depths up to 2,500 feet, but it’s reported that Lieberman’s line was out somewhere in the vicinity of 900 feet when he hooked the 41-inch prehistoric looking monster.

In an interview with the Daily Sitka Sentinel, the Seattle native said, “I knew it was abnormally big [but I] didn’t know it was a record until on the way back we looked in the Alaska guide book that was on the boat.”

Troy Tidingco, Sitka area manager for the state Department of Fish and Game, said the fish is still being analyzed but he believes it is at least 200 years old. Tidingco said that would beat the current record of 175 years. Researchers are able to determine the age of a shortraker by the number of growth rings along its ear bone.

Two-hundred years old. That’s just mind-blowing, man.

Think about it — if this fish was born in 1813, America only consisted of 18 states at the time, James Madison was the president, Napolean was wreaking havoc all over Europe, Antarctica hadn’t been discovered yet, and Pride and Prejudice had just been published. The fish would’ve been 48 years old in 1861 when the first shot was fired in the Civil War. Downright astounding.

I can’t even begin to imagine the things this fish saw in its lifetime, and can’t help but think that it’s a shame that Lieberman didn’t release it, but then again, if he did that, he wouldn’t be prospectively holding what looks to be a pretty remarkable historical record now, would he?

To each his own, though, I suppose. Reports are that Lieberman plans to have the fish mounted in his home, but has provided a tissue sample to Department of Fish and Game scientists to aid their research to accurately date the beast’s age.

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[via Yahoo! News]

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  2. Jared Borislow

    Fun fact: you age a fish by cutting it in half and counting the rings. You then throw out the tail end, insert your penis into the mouth and attend a minor league baseball game. It’s a TotalFratMove.com

    11 years ago at 12:48 pm
    1. Frat and Fraternize

      That wasn’t funny. It was stupid.

      Have fun fucking dead fish at the ball game, fishdick.

      11 years ago at 7:08 pm
  4. Channel4NewsTeam

    You almost have to feel like a dick for catching a 200 year old fish. Almost.

    11 years ago at 12:52 pm
  5. Hazemaster 5000

    Now if my math is correct here, this fish is roughly 12 years older than Dorn’s mother.

    11 years ago at 12:52 pm
  6. Frattios and sperrys

    This fish is older than almost every current active fraternity. Now there’s a mind fuck for you.

    11 years ago at 1:01 pm
  7. Davy Frockett 13

    The swim bladder on a fish that was caught in 900ft. of water probably exploded on the way up or at least at the surface which is why a catch and release would not have much of a chance of success.

    11 years ago at 2:59 pm
    1. Tuco1855

      ^I don’t understand what you’re saying. I need 1 more person to help explain this phenomenon.

      11 years ago at 6:31 pm
  9. poisoningtrees

    You can’t release a fish that lives at those depths. The internal organs expand from exposure to lower pressures and he would die anyway. Plus, who wouldn’t want to mount that?

    11 years ago at 3:36 pm
  10. Tuco1855

    Damn, that thing was alive when the Cubs won back to back World Series titles. What a lucky fish.

    11 years ago at 7:53 pm
  11. EverythingOnTap

    “I can’t even begin to imagine the things this fish saw in its lifetime”
    Living 900 feet below, I doubt it saw much of anything.

    11 years ago at 1:10 am