A nearly 9-foot-long Mekong giant catfish caught by fishermen in the remote district of Chiang Khong, is said to be the world's largest freshwater fish ever caught in Thailand.

The 646-pound fish was weighed by Thai fisheries departments officials, said Zeb Hogan, the leader of an international project, which intends to locate and study the world's largest freshwater fish species, according to Associated Press.

Hogan also cofirmed the catch as the heaviest fish ever reported in Thailand.

The giant catfish, one of the species listed as critically endangered two years ago, died before the villagers could sell it to the environmental groups, so it was cut into pieces, which were sold to the people in the village as food.