In the early 1990s he had spent three years in Moscow as correspondent for the Philadelphia Enquirer, spoke Russian and liked to travel, so it is not surprising to find that he is more naive about fish than he is about Russia.

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Mitchell-Hedges was more into battling giant fish than appreciating them, and he spent his time on Tobacco Caye alternately big-game fishing and scouring the islands for Mayan ruins.

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He adds that fish frozen immediately at sea is fresher than so-called fresh fish.

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Less than half an hour later, he was spotted by Fish and Wildlife wardens and a chase ensued.

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He said the difference was that Vanuatuans ate fish, yam and coconut rather than white bread and cereals.

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But what he pulled up from the depths looked more like a lizard than a fish, with greenish-brown skin, a snub nose and tiny legs.

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"It's really a show about acclamation, more than anything, " executive producer Joe Lawson said of what he sees as a fish-out-of-water story.

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His fishing methods were different: he used aluminium beer barrels as floats because wooden ones would break up in a minute, and rather than harpoons, with their stainless-steel darts that folded back and slipped right out of the fish, he preferred hand-held gaffs with a three-inch hook that went in and stayed there.

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