Richard Vogel / AP

Kent Williams, owner of New Fishall Bait Company, looks into the mouth of a 1,323.5-pound Mako shark at the company's headquarters in Gardena, Calif., on Wednesday, June 5, 2013. Jason Johnston of Texas caught the potentially record-setting 1,323-pound shark off Huntington Beach on Monday after a 2 1/2-hour battle, the Orange County Register reported.

KSBW.com
"I've hunted lions and brown bears, but I've never experienced anything like this," said Jason Johnston of Texas, who caught the 1,323-pound shark off Huntington Beach on Monday after a 2 1/2-hour battle, "It felt like I had a one-ton diesel truck at the end of the line, and it wasn't budging."

If the catch is confirmed and meets conditions, it would exceed the 1,221-pound record mako catch made in July 2001 off the coast of Chatham, Mass., said Jack Vitek, world records coordinator for the Florida-based International Game Fish Association. It takes about two months for the association to verify domestic catches. Continue reading

Richard Vogel / AP

Rows of teeth from a possible record-setting Mako shark caught by a fisherman off the coast of California.

Richard Vogel / AP

A Mako shark caught by a fisherman off the coast of California sits in a tank at New Fishall Bait Company in Gardena, Calif., on Wednesday, June 5, 2013.

 More sharks in PhotoBlog:

• Backlash forces shark fin traders onto Hong Kong rooftops
• Whale shark dies after becoming stranded on Indonesia beach
• Pakistani man fights police over 40-foot shark

US Attorney's Office via AP

This March 2013 image provided by the US Attorney's Office shows Totoaba bladders displayed at a US border crossing in downtown Calexico, Mexico. Seven people have been charged in a scheme to sell the bladders of an endangered Mexican fish considered a delicacy for use in Chinese soup, US prosecutors said Wednesday.

By Elliot Spagat, Associated Press

SAN DIEGO -- Seven people have been charged with smuggling bladders from an endangered fish in what authorities said Wednesday may be a growing international practice in which the bladders are sold for more than $10,000 each to be used in a highly desired soup.

U.S. border inspectors in Calexico have seized about 500 bladders since February that were believed to be destined for China and Hong Kong, said John Reed, a group supervisor for Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations unit.

The probe began when an inspector spotted about 30 bladders buried in an ice chest.

The bladders came from totoaba fish that live exclusively in Mexico's Sea of Cortez. Also known as Mexican giant bass or giant croaker, the fish can measure up to 7 feet long and weigh more than 200 pounds. The cream-colored, leathery bladders alone measure up to 3 feet. Continue reading.

Related Content: Seized shark fins burned in Honduras

John Minchillo / AP

A fishmonger tosses a halibut onto a table at the Fulton Fish Market, on March 29, 2013, in New York. The Fulton Fish Market, located in the Hunts Point neighborhood of the Bronx, is the world's largest after Tokyo. In this football-field size refrigerated building, time and money are measured in thousand-dollar pieces of salmon whose price-for-quality is negotiated on the spot. The product goes to the buyer instantly and is trucked to restaurants or retail vendors.

John Minchillo / AP

Fishmongers ply their trade on the floor of the Fulton Fish Market, on March 29, 2013, in New York.

Think Wall Street trading is brutal? Head up to the grittiest part of the South Bronx, where cutthroat deals are made in the dead of night on a massive concrete floor that reeks of fish guts.

The New Fulton Fish Market is the nation's largest seafood market, and second in the world to Tokyo's. Here, in a refrigerated building the size of six football fields, fishmongers are frenetically filleting, selling and packaging seafood — 200 million pounds a year worth close to $1 billion by some estimates. It is headed for restaurant tables, stores and mouths across America.

Glistening under the fluorescent lights is just about every sea creature. Most come in by truck, but about half are flown in from the ends of the Earth: Arctic char from Iceland; mahi-mahi from Ecuador; hamachi from Japan; branzino from Greece; salmon from Scotland; cockles from New Zealand.

Experienced buyers negotiate prices in seconds, judging quality on a look, a touch, a smell and often a raw taste.

Continue reading.

Editor's note: Photos taken on March 29 and made available to NBC News today.

John Minchillo / AP

A fishmonger peels the spine from a tuna at the Fulton Fish Market, on March 29, 2013, in New York.

John Minchillo / AP

Roberto Nunez, a buyer for multiple high-end New York establishments, including Eataly Gourmet Food Market, places an order at the Fulton Fish Market, on March 29, 2013, in New York.

John Minchillo / AP

Fresh fish rest in ice while awaiting purchase at the Fulton Fish Market, on March 29, 2013, in New York.

Stuart Price / AU-UN IST via AFP - Getty Images

A man carrying a large sailfish to the fish market in the Xamar Weyne district of Mogadishu, Somalia, on March 16, 2013.

Stuart Price / AU-UN IST via AFP - Getty Images

Men looking out across a harbor in Mogadishu early on the morning of March 16, 2013.

Stuart Price / AU-UN IST via Reuters

Freshly caught tuna fish are lined up for sale inside Mogadishu's fish market on March 16, 2013.

The relative peace that has prevailed in Mogadishu over recent months was shattered by a car bomb that killed at least ten people in the Somali capital on Monday.

But for Somalia's fishermen, the outlook remains promising. Their country boasts a longer coastline than any other nation in mainland Africa, with the bountiful waters of the Indian Ocean offering a plentiful potential harvest, but two decades of civil strife have greatly restricted the development of the fishing industry.

Each morning, an eclectic catch is unloaded and transported to the city's Xamar Weyne fish market, where it is sold for local consumption and, increasingly, for export to other countries.  

Stuart Price / AU-UN IST via AFP - Getty Images

A man carrying a large sailfish to the fish market in the Xamar Weyne district of Mogadishu on March 16, 2013.

Editor's note: These images were released on March 18, 2013 by the African Union-United Nations Information Support Team, which is affiliated to the African Union Mission in Somalia.

Brynjar Gauti / AP

Dead herring are seen floating on Tuesday in Kolgrafafjordur, a small fjord in west Iceland, for the second time in two months.

Between 25,000 and 30,000 tons of herring died in December and more now, due to lack of oxygen in the fjord thought to have been caused by the construction of a bridge across the fjord in December 2004. The current export value of  the estimated 10,000 tons of herring amounts to ISK 1.25 billion ($ 9.8 million), according to Morgunbladid newspaper.

-- The Associated Press

Brynjar Gauti / AP

Workers clear up dead herring on the northern part of Snaefellsnes peninsula, Iceland on Feb. 5, 2013.

Orlando Sierra / AFP - Getty Images

Some 120 shark dorsal fins seized to fishermen by the navy in the Caribbean Sea are incinerated in Tegucigalpa, on Thursday. Honduras created the first shark sanctuary one year ago.

Orlando Sierra / AFP - Getty Images

Some 120 shark dorsal fins seized from fishermen by the navy before their incineration in Tegucigalpa.

The Tico Times reports that environment officials from Costa Rica and Honduras proposed protections for hammerhead sharks:

Scalloped hammerheads are listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). They are in high demand for shark fin soup and account for about 4 percent of all shark fins in international trade.

Government delegates from the 175 CITES member countries will vote on the hammerhead and other possible shark protection proposals at next year’s meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, which will take place March 3-15 in Thailand.

See images of sharks in PhotoBlog.

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Ted S. Warren / AP

Alaska Airlines Capt. Trent Davey carries a 55-pound Copper River king salmon down a red carpet after he flew the annual first air shipment of the prized fish from Alaska to the Seattle area early Friday morning.

Ted S. Warren / AP

Alaska Airlines Capt. Trent Davey and first officer Andy Kullick hold up a 55-pound Copper River king salmon at Sea-Tac airport.

The first shipment of Alaska's prized Copper River salmon arrived early Friday morning at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport aboard an Alaska Airlines cargo flight from Cordova, Alaska.

Copper River salmon, known for its superiority in the culinary world, is prized for its high oil content and flavor. It typically brings the highest prices at restaurants and fish markets.

Related Links:

• Alaska's Copper River Salmon Season Begins in Cordova

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Ted S. Warren / AP

Executive chef Pat Donahue, of Anthony's Restaurants, executive chef Wayne Johnson, of Ray's Boathouse, Frankie Ragusa, general manger of Ocean Beauty Seafoods, and executive chef Jason Wilson, of Crush, walk with a 55-pound Copper River king salmon on May 18.

Joe Raedle / Getty Images

Jason Calvert, from JC's Custom Baits, (L) and Dan Bieniek cast for snakehead fish in a canal on Wednesday in Weston, Florida. The invasive snakehead fish is known for its aggressiveness and they're eating anything from bass to turtles and an occasional duckling. It is unknown exactly how the species, that is native to parts of Asia, was introduced to the South Florida area but it concerns people because the presence of an exotic species can alter the ecosystem to the detriment of native species. A healthy number of fisherman now go after the fish which helps control the species and puts what many fisherman say is a tasty fish on their plate.

Joe Raedle / Getty Images

A snakehead fish hooked by Jason Calvert.

Joe Raedle / Getty Images

Dan Bieniek , from JC's Custom Baits, uses a bat to strike and kill a snakehead fish that Jason Calver (L) caught.

Joe Raedle / Getty Images

Dan Bieniek, from JC's Custom Baits, Texas rigs a frog as he attempts to catch snakehead fish.

Joe Raedle / Getty Images

Jason Calvert, from JC's Custom Baits, motors down a canal during an outing to fish for snakehead fish.

Joe Raedle / Getty Images

Dan Bieniek, from JC's Custom Baits, (L) and Jason Calvert, display six snakehead fish they caught in Weston, Florida.

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Not to date myself or anything, but fishing is different than when I was a kid.  Back in the day, fishermen (and women) didn't wear suits covered with sponsor's logos; their boats weren't nearly as fast as today's; and I don't think I ever saw them signing autographs.

Mike Silva / AP

Kevin Combs, of Huntington, Texas, prepares for the start of the Bassmaster Classic fishing tournament, Friday, Feb. 24, 2012, at the Red River South Marina and Resort in Bossier City, La.

Mike Silva / AP

Edwin Evers signs an autograph at the start of the Bassmaster Classic fishing tournament at the Red River South Marina and Resort in Bossier City, La. on Friday.

Mike Silva / AP

Jeff Kriet, left, talks with Kevin VanDam as they compete in the Bassmaster Classic fishing tournament, Friday.

On the Bassmaster site, angler Michael Iaconelli describes how the pros approach different water conditions: Guys who know how to research old maps and use Google Earth are the ones to watch. They’ll find little backwater places off the beaten path that are running clear and holding feeding bass. They’re also the ones who’ll be fishing out of small boats. This will not be an equal event or be wide open by any means. You’ll know real quick who’s in the hunt and who isn’t.

Are you a fishing fan?  Follow the 2012 Bassmaster Classic Leaderboard

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