Crofton, MD - The "manhunt" is on for this fugitive fish. You've probably heard about it on the news. The Northern Snakehead, a species of fish native to the Yangtze River region in China, is now a ecological threat to the United States.
The Snakehead, which somewhat resembles a Muskie, recently turned up in an angler's net back in April. The angler, supporting "catch and release" programs, took a few snapshots of it and returned it to the deep. The deep in this case is about five to nine feet in some places. The pond behind the Dunkin Donuts on Hwy 3 in Crofton is now a national landmark. The angler consulted the DNR and that's when the action started. Correspondence between the Maryland DNR and the Division of Wildlife resulted in the conclusion that this was just another snakehead...one of about a half dozen in Maryland's history. This would normally just be dismissed until it was discovered that a pet shop in a local strip mall closed causing concern that there might be more. One official described the possibility of a breeding pair could be the worst case scenario.
The problem is that this is not just any fish. This is like Mr. Limpett gone zombie. While the snakehead isn't known to attack humans, it seems that anything else is fair game. Snakeheads are extremely aggressive and have the capacity of "cleaning out" the gamefish from a body of water. It doesn't stop there. This "alien" fish can actually survive out of water for three days and can "walk" to another body of water. Even worse is that the full-grown female of the species can lay up to 100,000 eggs per year. Officials are seeking the help of local anglers and may enlist the expertise of Chinese fisherman to catch these before they get out of control.
There have been other accounts of some of the 28 different species of the Snakehead along the East Coast, but this one seems well suited for surviving and thriving in the area. In recent days, officials are now trying to locate the individual (s) responsible for introducing the species to this pond. How many were released here, and especially how many breeding pairs, is still in question.
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Revised:
02/22/07
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