science · 02 June 2004 · 20 years ago
In 2004, a 2.75-meter sturgeon weighing 120 kg was caught in Swansea Bay off the coast of Wales by Robert Davies. Sturgeons are extremely rare in British waters, so this catch was interesting, but by a statute dating back to King Edward II the 14th century the fish had to be offered to the Crown if caught in Britain. When Buckingham Palace told him he could "dispose of it as he saw fit," he it auctioned at Plymouth fish market for £700, but the local police confiscated it as a protected species under British law. Eventually, the fish was donated as a specimen for the collection at the Natural History Museum in London. (In other parts of the world where sturgeon are caught, their eggs are sold as an extravagant food - caviar.)
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