Fishermen from the fishing village located on Port Henderson Road in Portmore with the head of the 300lb jewfish which was caught on Friday. - Ricardo Makyn

André Hall is the smallest fisherman at the Port Henderson fishing village in Portmore, St Catherine. But, on Friday, he made the largest catch on the beach when he snared a behemoth.

The fish, a jewfish or Atlantic Goliath Grouper, is known to reach extremely large sizes and can weigh up to 800lb. They average about 400lb when they mature and are found in tropical waters across most of the Caribbean. They are said to prey on crabs and other shelled creatures and reach lengths of at least eight feet.

The one which Hall caught is up there in terms of size and weight.

"Three hundred pounds it weigh, boss," said Hall. "A di biggest one mi ever see pon di beach fi di all the years mi out yah," Hall said.

When the Star visited the beach, a number of persons were observed cutting up the monstrous fish.There was also brisk sales on the spot at $250 per pound.

"Come buy the fish as it fresh. It very fleshy and you can't lose; nuh lef di deal," a man shouted, while chopping the fish.

shark

Hall, 25, told The Star that when he saw the large fish he thought it was a shark.

"When mi see it, mi think a shark. But when mi realise that a Jewfish, mi start shoot it," Hall said.

The consensus was that this was the biggest catch and largest on the beach, in recent memory.

"A 20 years mi de bout ya a catch and neva si nutten so big yet," a senior fisherman said.