A report of a 'body' on the foreshore of the river Thames yesterday (July 15) turned out to be a large catfish.

Chiswick RNLI Lifeboat was called to the foreshore on the river at Barnes following a report from a concerned member of the public to Richmond Police.

On arrival at the scene the lifeboat crew found the object was actually a very large dead catfish.  

The fish was exceptionally large and in an advanced stage of decomposition. 

Volunteer crewman John Pooley, who has done some angling in his time, identified the fish.

RNLI helmsman Mark Finnis  commented; “The report was clearly made in good faith as it was only possible to identify the object close to.”

The Met Police river team and the PLA also attended. The carcass was later removed by the PLA.

Chiswick RNLI Lifeboat is the second busiest in the UK and Ireland; since starting service in 2002, has attended over 2250 incidents and rescued over 1075 people.

The RNLI has 233 lifeboat stations including four on the Thames. Chiswick RNLI lifeboat became operational on the 2nd January 2002. Since then it has responded to over 2,200 emergency calls. The four Thames lifeboats together have responded to over 5,000 calls.

Catfish are not native to the river although they are sometimes caught by anglers.

In 2008, a 28-year old man took 45 mins to land a Wels catfish on the Kingston stretch of the Thames. It was believed to be the biggest ever fish caught in British running waters and weighed in the region of 60-65lbs.

July 18, 2013