New Snakefish Alert

[ju66l3r]

The snakehead fish previously seen in Crofton, MD and Wheaton, MD are now also being found in the Potomac tributaries. They are an invasive species of fish predator from China that can harm other valuable species fished from the Potomac. DNR officials do not have the manpower to search the entire Potomac water basin for developing an accurate picture of how bad the infestation is so they are asking local fishermen to help out.

 

Since we're all outdoorsy, I figured a number of you might fish in these same waters and this information might interest you:

 

A PDF of the flier they are posting at common fishing locations on the Potomac with info on reporting and killing the fish (along with a picture of what to look for).

 

Here is the MD DNR webpage with info on how to contact them with your sightings.

 

Let's keep them outta our rockfish!

 

EDIT: D'oh...topic should read "snakehead"...also, 1000 posts...woo.

Edited May 18, 2004 by ju66l3r

[ucmike]

i was going to start leaving those in caches.

 

left snakehead, took superball.

[+Salvelinus]

I just got an e-mail that another snakehead was caught by a fisherman in the Potomac River. Apparently they are established in that drainage to some degree.

 

Being a Fisheries Biologist...the threat of this species is not taken for granted, but should not be overblown as well. If any of our MD, VA, DE or South Central PA caching fisherman catch one...kill it and report it immediatly to their State Fisheries Agency. Remember to record specifically where and when it was caught to help Fisheries Biologist gain knowledge of how far this animal has spread.

 

Refer to the original post for links for what they look like.

 

Salvelinus