Giant tuna weighing 360 kilos caught in Pasuquin, Ilocos Norte

Residents of Pasuquin, Ilocos Norte, were left stunned after a giant tuna weighing a whopping 360 kilograms was caught off the town's coast

In Kuya Kim Atienza's report on "24 Oras" Tuesday,  Besie Saguimo, who uploaded a video of the extraordinary catch online, shared that many in their neighborhood were curious because it was the first time they saw a bluefin tuna of such size. 

"Kaya pong marami taong tumingin po sa may dagat kasi ngayon lang sila nakakita ng ganun kalaking bluefin po o big tuna. Hindi po nila isinakay sa bangka kasi sobrang laki po, hindi po kakayanin," she said. 

Per the report, the giant tuna caught in Pasuquin is possibly a Pacific bluefin tuna, scientific name Thunnus orientalis.

This type of tuna is migratory and can swim for long distances across the Pacific Ocean. It is also predatory and is known to eat squid, krill, crab, and small fish like sardines. 

Kuya Kim said that an adult Pacific bluefin tuna can usually grow as long as 1.5 meters and weigh up to 60 kilograms. He added that the largest Pacific bluefin tuna ever caught measured three meters long and weighed over 400 kilograms. 

"'Yung iba umaabot nga ng almost 500 kilos pero hindi siya 'yung pinakamalaking tuna talaga. Considered sila as bihira lang po, napasama sila dun sa less common type of tuna na ine-exploit natin sa fishery," explained Professor Glenville Castrence, a faculty member at the College of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, Mindanao State University - General Santos. 

The Pacific bluefin tuna caught in Pasuquin was sold for P60,000. According to Lenny Ratuita, the buyer's intermediary, the fish was butchered and then sold in Cubao. 

—CDC, GMA Integrated News