Crane needed to remove giant catfish that had been blocking hydroelectric power dam inlet

Power plant workers looking to remove a blockage on the entrance to a huge hydroelectric power dam across the River Danube in Austria discovered a huge catfish.

Staff at Kraftwerk Abwinden-Asten, near Linz in Upper Austria. were clearing rubbish caught on a grille allowing water into the huge water turbines when they discovered the dead fish.



They then needed to use a crane to lift it out of the water, and once it was on the banks the team from the Austrian electricity company Verbund were stunned to discover that the catfish was an incredible 2.25 metres (7.4 feet) in length, and weighed 90 kilogrammes (200 pounds).

Usually catfish species (Siluriformes) can grow up to 1.5 metres (5 feet), and discoveries of catfish over 2 metres (6.5 feet) in length are extremely rare. Fish expert Peter Noebauer said that catfish have multiplied in recent years on the river, with more and more monster specimens being found like this one. He said: "We are seeing more and more catfish, though I don't ever remember seeing one of this size before."