Pakistan: Fisherman sells rare fish, becomes millionaire overnight

A fisherman in Karachi city of Pakistan became a millionaire overnight after he caught a rare fish, which has many medicinal properties, and successfully auctioned many of them.

Haji Baloch, who has his dwelling in the impoverished Ibrahim Hyderi fishing village, caught a rare fish with his workers from the Arabian Sea on Monday (Nov 6). The fish which was caught by Baloch is called as golden fish or "Sowa" in their local dialect.

The entire catch of fish fetched70 million rupees

"The entire catch was sold for some 70 million rupees (approximately $247,315) at the Karachi harbour on Friday morning when fishermen auctioned off their catch," said Pakistan Fishermen Folk Forum's Mubarak Khan.

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Sowa is a rare kind of fish which is considered priceless, and the substance present in its belly is believed to have great medicinal and healing properties. The doctors also use a thread-like substance, which is found in the fish, in some surgical procedures.

"One fish fetches around 7 million rupees (approximately $24,731) in the auction," stated Baloch, as reported by the Indian news agency PTI. Generally, the fish weighs between 20 to 40 kgs and can grow by 1.5 metres. This fish is very popular in East Asian countries.

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The Sowa also has traditional and cultural significance and it is used in local cuisine and traditional medicines.The fish can be found near the coast only when it is their breeding season.

"We were fishing in the open sea of Karachi...when we came across this huge cache of golden fish, and it was a windfall for us," Haji said.

Haji stated that the money collected from the auction will be shared between the seven people in his crew.

(With inputs from agencies)