Getty Images
Northern snakehead
Nam Y. Huh/Associated Press
In Burnham Harbor in Chicago last month, Phil Willink and Frank Velaldi, from left, checked nets for evidence of the northern snakehead.
Posted on 11/05/2004 3:14:47 PM PST by neverdem
WASHINGTON, Nov. 2 - Nineteen northern snakehead fish, widely feared interlopers, were caught this summer in a 13-mile stretch of the Potomac River where it widens below the nation's capital on its way to the Chesapeake Bay. But the final and smallest catch was particularly disheartening.
A three-inch fingerling fished out of Dogue Creek, 15 miles south of here, at the beginning of October indicates that the snakehead is reproducing in local waters that are beloved by bass fishermen.
Two years ago the federal government outlawed the importing of the northern snakehead, a delicacy in Chinese and Thai cuisine that goes by names like mudfish.
But the fish, which can grow to several feet, is resilient. It can breathe air and survive out of water for a prolonged period. And it has the ability, when young, to wriggle through mud overland from one body of water to another.
With the evidence of the fish's spawning, hope is fading along the Potomac that the aggressive, toothy Asian invader can be readily stopped.
The snakehead made cameo appearances throughout the summer from Massapoag Pond in Massachusetts to the Chicago shores of Lake Michigan, and it is spawning in Meadow Lake, a South Philadelphia pond that drains into the Schuylkill. In those places, state fish and game agencies hope they can keep it from establishing a biological beachhead.
There is a bit more resignation here, not far from the Maryland pond where the snakehead's first appearance caused alarm two years ago.
"Obviously, you can't poison the Potomac and you can't drain it," said Walter R. Courtenay Jr., a research fishery biologist at the United States Geological Survey's Center for Aquatic Resources Studies in Gainesville, Fla., referring to the techniques used to purge snakehead from two local ponds.
Though an unwelcome addition to the ecosystem, the fish may not wreak the kind of devastation envisioned when it was first called Frankenfish. The snakehead may be problematic for native fisheries, Mr. Courtenay said, but it is too soon to gauge the impact.
"What they are going to go for will be fish that don't try to get away from them and some of the slower-moving species,'' he said, and primarily the young, "probably shad or perch or bass."
In an e-mail message to a scientific colleague, which Mr. Courtenay made available, he said, "There will likely be changes in populations of some native fishes,'' but those changes may be over decades.
"The fact remains," Mr. Courtenay continued, "this nation does not need predators of foreign origin introduced to any of our waters, no matter the reason or by some accident. Our native fishes are too stressed already due to human activities to face additional threats."
The Web site of the United States Geological Survey sounds a louder alarm. "Should snakeheads become established in North American ecosystems," it says, "their predatory behavior could drastically disrupt food webs and ecological conditions, thus forever changing native aquatic systems by modifying the array of native species."
The snakehead is hardly the first invader in the nation's rivers. On the Mississippi River, two species of invasive Asian carp have cut into native fisheries from Arkansas to a little south of Chicago over the last decade. The northern snakehead, like the Asian carp and the zebra mussels in the Great Lakes, is a byproduct of global commerce. The transformation of native ecosystems by such foreign invaders is increasingly hard to escape, experts say.
Gary Martel, the director of fisheries for Virginia, said, "Realistically, if you look at the distribution of the fish - they are on both sides of the Potomac River over a space of 13 miles or so - with the number we have gotten, the possibility of catching all the fish and removing them is not practical.''
"We don't know how it's going to fit in with those other organisms," Mr. Martel said. "It's at the top of the food chain, not the bottom. It eats other fish, insects at small stages, amphibians - just about anything that inhabits the same environment as it does."
By the time the snakehead was banned, Mr. Courtenay said, the current populations had probably already gained a toehold in the Potomac, whose bass fishery is a source of great local pride. Mr. Courtenay said the first local snakeheads could have been discarded or intentionally released - perhaps as part of a Buddhist ceremony called prayer animal release.
Steven Early, a biologist with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, is not ready to acknowledge defeat.
"I know we've got a juvenile out there, and that probably means we've got more than one juvenile," Mr. Early said. "It doesn't mean that they're established. Even if they were, that would be a very low level.''
He added: "I am concerned that in this area this fish is going to compete directly with largemouth bass - prey on them, compete for food and occupy the same habitat - and there's only enough habitat to go around; it's like musical chairs. And my largemouth bass recreational fishery is very precious."
Those who love the fishery can be recruited to try to protect it.
"Anglers and fishermen," Mr. Early said, "if well directed and efficient, can fish out a fish; so I think there are a couple of cards yet to be played."
Getty Images
Northern snakehead
Nam Y. Huh/Associated Press
In Burnham Harbor in Chicago last month, Phil Willink and Frank Velaldi, from left, checked nets for evidence of the northern snakehead.
What's wrong with this picture?
I guess the golbalization concept doesn't apply to fish. Let's hope it works better with humans.
And who's to say that the largemouth bass, or a revived pike population won't eat them? The Zebra Mussel turned out to have some benefits in Lake Erie, where it filtered the lake clean ("too clean..." is is now the tree-huggers' lament) and brought back several near-extinct local species that eat them
Beware: anything called a "delicacy" in asian cooking usually implies it tastes like crap.
Time to kick the environazis out and start killing these damned things..if it isn't too late.
bump
Here in Michigan in Lake St. Clair, a number of years ago it was predicted that an ecological disaster was about to happen when zebra mussels somehow made their way into the lake via freighters. As it turned out, while their numbers escalated astronomically, they quickly died down to acceptable levels after it was discovered that native fish such as our perch were dining on them. The only disaster which occured was the greatly noticable cleaning of the lake's water...........
That being said, if these "chinese delicacies" make their way into the great lakes, I suspect that the native fish and fisherman will successfully keep their numbers within acceptable levels. Nature and man just kinda have a way with such things......
They look and act like hybrid lefty politicians to me.
FReepmail me if you want on or off my health and science ping list.
Well, let's wait until several schools of environmentalist swim into some of these full grown lil' dumplings. In a war between the environmentalists and the snakeheads, my bet's on the 'Carville' fish.:)
They can grow to more than 3 feet long and exceed weights of 15 pounds. They are aggressive predators that feed opportunistically on amphibians, fish, aquatic birds, and, on occasion, small mammals. Of greater concern is the snakehead fish's ability to survive in waters with low dissolved oxygen and to travel across land. When looking for more suitable habitat, snakehead fish have been known to leave poor quality waters and survive out of water for three to four days in search of other bodies of water.
Wonder how these guys would do against Northern Pike?
Man those are some ugly fish. And big teeth too. There are a couple spots down in that part of the Potomac (like Mattawoman creek) where people will think twice about swimming next summer.
The area referred to in the article - mainly around the Occoquan River - is a huge summer boating and fishing area. Unlike the Potomac in downtown DC, the Potomac at Occoquan is about 2 to 3 miles wide shore-to-shore. Maybe a dozen marinas, thousands of boats. During the season the bass boats are screaming all over the river looking for hotspots, and there seems to be enough action to support professional guides.
Maybe Tim's Rivershore Restaurant will come up with a way to make the snakeheads edible.
BTTT!!!!!!
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