IPC’s weekly fishing title, Angler’s Mail, landed an international media scoop when it published exclusive pictures of the first snakehead fish to be caught in the UK.
Reader Andy Alder from Lincoln emailed the images of the fish to the newspaper, originally thinking it was a burbot, which are thought to be extinct as one has not been caught in this country since 1969.
On closer inspection the Angler’s Mail team realised it was a snakehead, which are native to South East Asia and India and not normally found in UK waters.
Angler’s Mail released the story last Tuesday, which spread through the media, with The Sun announcing: ‘A SAVAGE fish more terrifying than a piranha has been caught in Britain for the first time – sparking fears of a deadly invasion.”
Editor Tim Knight said: ‘It’s been a bonkers week – it’s gone all over the world. I’ve seen stories in Australia and China.
‘The Sun, in true snakehead style, bit our arms off for the story, and when we put a press release out through our own press office we had an overwhelming response.”
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