A local fisherman landed the catch of a life time, when he reeled in a piranha-like fish in Essex County.
Pamela Anhron says her father, Donald Poisson, landed a pacu fish on Tuesday, while casting his line in the Belle River. Poisson tried to keep the fish alive to allow an examination by conservation officers, but it died over night.
The pacu fish is a native of South America, but unlike the piranha, the pacu is an omnivore, and mainly eats seeds.
On July 14, a Michigan woman caught a 12 inch pacu fish in Lake St. Clair. In that case, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources believed the fish was a pet that was dumped by its owner after growing too big or aggressive.
Dennis Higgs, a biologist with the Great Lakes Institute of Environmental Research suspects the fish was dumped by its owner. Higgs doesn’t believe there would be a direct impact to the region’s marine ecosystem, but he’s concerned these fish may carry harmful diseases.
If the fish wasn’t caught, it likely wouldn’t have survived the winter, though Higgs says Mother Nature always finds a way.
Poisson and his family plan to mount the fish to commemorate the rare catch.
