Beware of Chinese SNAKEHEAD fish...they're coming by Bill Byrd

The Snakeheads are coming?
article by Bill Byrd.
Some information in this article comes from AP, Reuters, and Cox.

As many as 4 years ago, I began to hear stories about "walking predatory fish" that would eat anything and crawl to the next body of water when it had depleted its habitat of food. They were rumored to be very predatory, bred fast, and were ferocious. I'd even heard that they attacked dogs, and the larger specimens in China had attacked humans when large snakeheads were protecting spawning beds and fry.

Right now, there is serious action being taken to control and eliminate the flow of these Chinese snakehead fish into our country. (The image left photographed by Cait Gillespie)

The Chinese snakehead, a member of the family Channidae, order Perciformes, and class Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) has at least 21 species. They are found in fresh water ONLY and originate in tropical Africa and Asia. The Chinese snakehead acquired its name because its head resembles the head of a snake. These fish are aggressive predators, and can wriggle out of the water to catch their prey. They have an air breathing apparatus, which allows them to breath air out of the water. Because this species fares well in aquariums, it has been imported and sold to fish collectors. Because it is considered a very good eating fish by many Asian cultures, it is imported for food into the US, too. Because of sporadic releases into US waters, Chinese snakeheads are beginning to show up in fish populations from Florida to Maryland!

From Cox News service According to Paul Shafland, director of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation's (FWC) Non-Native Fish Lab in Boca Raton, Florida, angler Bob Newland of Sunrise caught the first documented snakehead on October 5, 2000 while fishing a residential pond in Tamarac, Broward County. The angler initially thought it was a bowfin until noticing the ocellus, a distinctive dark spot rimmed in brilliant orange near the base of the tail fin. The fish measured 26 inches long and weighed four pounds.

Shafland said "all snakeheads are distinguished by their torpedo shaped body, long dorsal and anal fins without spines, and toothed jaws. This snakehead typically has red eyes and is gold-tinted brown to pale gray in younger fish while older fish are generally dark brown with large black blotches. The most distinctive marking is the black spot rimmed with orange near the base of the tail fin, known as an eye-spot or ocellus."

While the northern snakeheads found in Maryland appear to have been confined to one pond, the bullseye snakeheads found in Florida were in open water with connecting canals that potentially could enable the fish to reach the Everglades. Northern snakeheads were also found in Florida in the St. Johns River in Seminole and Volusia Counties.

Shafland continued "We hope the public doesn't over react as was the case with the media inspired hysteria regarding the appearance of the walking catfish back in the 1960s and even the swamp eel a few years ago. The presence of this species immediately places it into the unwelcomed and undesirable category, but more importantly it clearly demonstrates that illegal introductions of exotic fishes continue in Florida." In fact, this is the sixth exotic fish that has been documented reproducing in Florida waters since 1992." Shafland said. The Boca Raton scientist stated that the cooperation and assistance of knowledgeable anglers in identifying exotics is invaluable.

How did these unwanted fish arrive in the US? According to Shalfland, there is no question that the snakehead is highly valued throughout Asia for its food value and taste. "I have eaten a few snakeheads since we began our research into this species, and can attest to their excellent taste," Shafland said. "Their popularity as food within the Asian cultures in south Florida may even explain the presence of the snakehead in Florida waters." Although not the same species reproducing in Florida waters, FWC Wildlife Inspectors Lts. John West and Pat Reynolds, Division of Law Enforcement, found another species of live snakehead for sale in two oriental food markets in late February. Some customers apparently believe that in addition to tasting good, snakeheads have a medicinal benefit.

There is current cabinet level reaction to the emergence of Chinese snakehead fish in Eastern US waters. "These fish are like something from a bad horror movie," said Interior Secretary Gale Norton. "They eat virtually any small animal in their path. They can travel across land and live out of water for at least three days. They reproduce quickly."

"You’re talking about a total rearrangement of the food chain when you introduce a top predator like this," said Walter Courtenay, an ichthyologist with the U.S. Geological Survey in Florida. According to the Interior Department, snakeheads have been found in six other states: Florida, California, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Maine and Rhode Island.

The Bush administration is seeking to ban the importation and interstate transportation of live snakeheads, which are eaten as a delicacy in Asia. Possession of the voracious fish is already outlawed in 13 states, including Georgia, Florida, and Texas.

"They will feed on native fish, amphibians, crustaceans, birds, small reptiles, and small mammals," said Steve Williams, director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "They could impose a serious threat to some of our own endangered and threatened species."

Williams urged anglers catching any unusual fish, like the one pictured left in the image by Alex Dorgan-Ross of AP, to alert federal wildlife officials. The Maryland snakeheads were first found by a fisherman who hooked one. This juvenile northern snakehead, a non-native predatory fish, was caught at a pond in Crofton, Md., but many more remain in the water. Scientists might poison the pond to get rid of them.

The image right is what these small fish can become, and their impact on our fisheries is only being imagined at this time. They, like KUDZU are gaining a place in our world, and will have to be understood before proper response can be effected.

As fly fishers, if you encounter fish that resemble the images in this article, alert DNR officials in your area. Save specimens for identification, and note where they were caught. Shoot photos of the fish and areas where you contacted them if possible. Then get that information and frozen samples to your local DNR fisheries biologist as soon as possible.

Agencies in the eastern USA are getting into high gear. The S.C. Department of Natural Resources has adopted an emergency regulation prohibiting importation, sale or possession of snakehead fish in the state to lessen the potential for their release into the state's waters. People who currently have snakehead fish will have a 30-day amnesty period to turn in the fish. The emergency regulation, filed Sept. 9, reads: "No person may possess, sell, buy, offer for sale, import, bring or cause to be brought or imported into South Carolina or released into the water of South Carolina any live animal or egg of the family Channidae (snakehead)." Violation of this emergency regulation could bring a fine of up to $200 or imprisonment for up to 30 days.

SC DNR will give people in possession of snakeheads an opportunity to voluntarily turn in the fish by invoking a 30-day amnesty period on making charges for possessing a snakehead in violation of the regulation. Fisheries biologists with the DNR will collect snakehead fish, without prosecution, from people who have purchased them in the aquarium trade. To report possession of snakehead fish, call (803) 734-3886 in Columbia or one of the following DNR district fisheries offices: Clemson, (864) 654-6346; Greenwood, (864) 223-1307; Bonneau, (843) 825-3387; Barnwell, (803) 259-5474; or Florence, (843) 661-4717.

I spoke with Ted Hendrickx, Senior Fisheries Biologist with the Georgia Wildlife Resources Division, and he told me "we have not had any snakeheads collected in the public waters of Georgia. To the best of our knowledge there are not now, and have not ever been, snakeheads in the waters of this state. We have had one isolated "snakehead" report from a Chattahoochee tributary since "snakehead fever" set in over recent months. It was examined promptly by one of our Region 1 staff and it turned out to be a bowfin."

What ever the outcome, look carefully at the images of this fairly new and unwanted visitor in American waters. If you believe that you have caught one, if possible freeze it and take it to your local DNR fisheries biologists to evaluate it. Carefully define where the fish was contacted, and have the information for DNR. As fly fishers if we carefully start working diligently with DNR on a solution, maybe this won't get out of hand.

According to Hendrickx, "A WRD website that allows people to locate WRD offices that serve them is http://www.gofishgeorgia.com/. This link will also access all types of Boating, Fishing, and Hunting info. Go to "general info" and "contact us" to find the appropriate office that serves a particular county or program."