Fishermen in east China reeled in a giant swordfish measuring 3.06 meters long and weighing 206 kilograms on Wednesday, according to media reports.

The giant swordfish was found in the south Yellow Sea in early morning, according to the local fishermen who captured the huge fish "the big fish was captured after we headed towards south for around five hours by boat."

Shi Donglei, the owner of a fish stall at a supermarket in Qingdao, east China's Shandong province, obtained the giant creature with 8,000 yuan (around 1300 USD). The site of the big fish attracted many curious onlookers at the market.

The swordfish was instantly sold out at 100 yuan per kilogram in the market.

Shi said the fish was so heavy it required a crane to be lifted onshore.

A climate expert noted that the swordfishes are found widely in tropical and temperate parts of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans. It is a rare phenomenon that the swordfish is found in the Yellow Sea in the autumn.

"There is a common awareness in the scientific field that the tropical ocean fishes have an apparent trend of moving toward north in recent years. The warm current in the western Pacific Ocean and the global climate change is the reason of the fishes moving north," the expert added.

The swordfish is a large, highly migratory, predatory fish characterized by a long, flat bill. It is named after its bill resembling a sword. They commonly reach 3 meters in length, and the biggest so far reported is 4.55 meters in length and 650 kilograms in weight.