IcUrdazedandconfused
May 14th, 2004, 05:51 PM
http://www.usatoday.com/news/science/2004-05-14-alien-fish_x.htm
If any of you fish in the area......
Hungry alien fish may be nearing nation's capital
ROCKVILLE, Md. (AP) — A second northern snakehead has been caught by a
fisherman in the Potomac River, Maryland officials said, a sign that
the destructive alien species may have invaded the Washington area's
largest river.
A snakehead was caught in a lake near D.C. earlier this year.
By Leslie Kossoff, AP
The 12-inch immature female was found in the river Wednesday just
south of Fort Washington by an angler who turned it over the Maryland
Department of Natural Resources. The agency confirmed that the fish
was a northern snakehead, a nonnative species imported from China.
The discovery comes nearly a week after a fisherman caught a similar
sized snakehead May 7 in a small tidal creek near Mount Vernon, Va.,
just across the river from Fort Washington.
That has led state environmental officials to worry that the voracious
fish that can destroy an ecosystem and live out of water may be
spawning in the Potomac.
"Two fish, same size, same area. It makes you start to wonder about
the origin," said Steve Early of DNR's fisheries division. "Our
concern ratchets up."
One snakehead was caught in a Wheaton lake earlier this year and
thousands were discovered in a Crofton pond in 2002. The Wheaton lake
was drained and declared snakehead free while the Crofton pond was
poisoned to kill the fish.
But it would be impossible to use those kind of control methods in the
Potomac, a large river that forms the border between Virginia and
Maryland and flows into the Chesapeake Bay.
Early urged fishermen to watch out for snakeheads in the area. He said
anglers should kill the fish by freezing it or clubbing it and then
alert DNR. The agency planned to place signs at all access points
within a 10 mile radius of Marshall Hall, the point on the river where
the fish was caught.
"It was at least inhabited by two (snakeheads)," he said. "We want to
find out if it is inhabited by more."
He said state officials are unsure if the two fish were released
independently of each other or if there is a reproducing population of
the fish in the Potomac. DNR believes the fish found on the Maryland
side was hatched in 2003.
Native to China, snakeheads are voracious predators, sitting on the
top of the food chain and devouring smaller fish. They are considered
a delicacy in some Asian countries, and were often sold in Asian
markets or kept in tanks by collectors. They are harmless to humans.
In 2002, the Department of the Interior banned the import of 28
species of snakehead, including the northern variety. Those who owned
snakeheads before that time could keep their fish but were barred from
transporting them across state lines, he said.
After the Wheaton discovery, Montgomery County drafted its own law
making it illegal to possess a northern snakehead.
If any of you fish in the area......
Hungry alien fish may be nearing nation's capital
ROCKVILLE, Md. (AP) — A second northern snakehead has been caught by a
fisherman in the Potomac River, Maryland officials said, a sign that
the destructive alien species may have invaded the Washington area's
largest river.
A snakehead was caught in a lake near D.C. earlier this year.
By Leslie Kossoff, AP
The 12-inch immature female was found in the river Wednesday just
south of Fort Washington by an angler who turned it over the Maryland
Department of Natural Resources. The agency confirmed that the fish
was a northern snakehead, a nonnative species imported from China.
The discovery comes nearly a week after a fisherman caught a similar
sized snakehead May 7 in a small tidal creek near Mount Vernon, Va.,
just across the river from Fort Washington.
That has led state environmental officials to worry that the voracious
fish that can destroy an ecosystem and live out of water may be
spawning in the Potomac.
"Two fish, same size, same area. It makes you start to wonder about
the origin," said Steve Early of DNR's fisheries division. "Our
concern ratchets up."
One snakehead was caught in a Wheaton lake earlier this year and
thousands were discovered in a Crofton pond in 2002. The Wheaton lake
was drained and declared snakehead free while the Crofton pond was
poisoned to kill the fish.
But it would be impossible to use those kind of control methods in the
Potomac, a large river that forms the border between Virginia and
Maryland and flows into the Chesapeake Bay.
Early urged fishermen to watch out for snakeheads in the area. He said
anglers should kill the fish by freezing it or clubbing it and then
alert DNR. The agency planned to place signs at all access points
within a 10 mile radius of Marshall Hall, the point on the river where
the fish was caught.
"It was at least inhabited by two (snakeheads)," he said. "We want to
find out if it is inhabited by more."
He said state officials are unsure if the two fish were released
independently of each other or if there is a reproducing population of
the fish in the Potomac. DNR believes the fish found on the Maryland
side was hatched in 2003.
Native to China, snakeheads are voracious predators, sitting on the
top of the food chain and devouring smaller fish. They are considered
a delicacy in some Asian countries, and were often sold in Asian
markets or kept in tanks by collectors. They are harmless to humans.
In 2002, the Department of the Interior banned the import of 28
species of snakehead, including the northern variety. Those who owned
snakeheads before that time could keep their fish but were barred from
transporting them across state lines, he said.
After the Wheaton discovery, Montgomery County drafted its own law
making it illegal to possess a northern snakehead.