Fisherman catches 80kg endangered stingray in Singapore

Fishermen were delighted after catching this stunning 80kg endangered stingray in Singapore.

Angling enthusiast Kerry Loh tussled with the giant honeycomb whipray for three hours before finally landing it in Bedok Jetty on July 30 evening.

Loh's friends helped him pull the giant creature out of the the sea along the Singapore Strait using four fishing gaffs.

The fisherman said: "We had to cut up the fish and weigh it part by part to get the actual weight of the fish. The final weight added up to 80kg."

Onlooker Raj Bharathi said he walked over to the ecstatic fishermen moments after they had pulled the stingray out of the water.

He said: "I go for a brisk walk and cycling to the jetty. There are anglers there every night. I saw how the fish was already dead when they pulled it out so he had no choice."

The chopped fish meat was shared among the group of anglers who helped catch it.

However, not everyone is happy with the giant catch. Some locals believed that the anglers may have went overboard with catching the creature.

Local Samantha Lee said the stingray may have died from the stress and suffering of being hooked and dragged through the water.

She said: "They had to use various tools to poke, stab, hook, and pulled the ray up onto the jetty.

"And because of this action, the ray probably bled and dried out on the jetty before dying."

The honeycomb whipray, also known as the reticulate whipray or honeycomb stingray, is classified as vulnerable species under the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

It is fished in Southeast Asia and parts of the Indian Ocean for meat, skin, cartilage, and other purposes. It is highly susceptible to population depletion because of its large size, inshore habits, and low reproductive rate, and is additionally threatened by extensive habitat degradation.