A man is fishing in the United States. (Illustrative Photo) – BRUCE BENNETT/GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/Getty Images via AFP
Pike perch is a very popular dish among gourmets. This fish of the large perch family, originally from North America, known for its nutty aftertaste and which can reach a size of 75 cm in adulthood, is also at the heart of a scandal shaking the world of sport fishing in the United States.
Fish twice as heavy
The facts unfolded last Friday on the shores of Lake Erie, one of North America’s five Great Lakes. The Lake Erie Walleye Trail is organized there, a very famous fishing competition that attracts participants from many neighboring states and promises the winner a whopping sum of $29,000.
As CNN explains, things went wrong when promoter Jason Fischer was amazed at the weight of one of the teams’ catches at the final weigh-in. While the five fish were estimated to weigh 20 pounds (about 9 kilos), they weighed 34 pounds (about 15 kilos) on the scales.
“I thought that was just not possible. I felt the fish physically, I could feel hard objects in the fish,” says Jason Fischer, who decides to open the fish.
He discovers several lead eggs and nets there. “We have weights in the fish,” he exclaimed at the time of the discovery, which has since been immortalized in a video that has gone viral.
Ongoing investigation
The crowd, somewhat scalded by this discovery, demands that the police be called and is on the verge of physically attacking the scammers. Those who declined to comment are now the subject of an investigation.
According to a professional fisherman interviewed by the New York Times, fraud is rampant in the sport fishing world, especially since the techniques are numerous: delivery of pre-caught fish, fishing in forbidden areas, catches filled with ice that then melt and cover the tracks.. .
For his part, Jason Fischer is disgusted by this scam, especially since the offending team has already won several competitions that he was able to organize. “You will never be allowed to participate again,” he concludes.
Original article published on BFMTV.com