Frizzey Lights World
Snake Fish
Snakehead: A Fish Out of Water
by Eric Jay Dolin
One muggy day in May 2002, two men went fishing on a small and unremarkable pond in Crofton, Maryland, just a short drive from the nation's capital. One of them caught a fish that looked like nothing he'd ever seen. Before he threw it back, he snapped a few pictures and later shared them with state fisheries biologists. They too were puzzled, but after some sleuthing they identified the fish as a northern snakehead (Channa argus). A native of Asia, it didn't belong in the wild in Crofton, or anywhere in the United States for that matter. It was an alien with a primitive lung and sharp teeth, a potentially invasive species with a predilection for dining ravenously on other fishes, the ability to survive cold winters, and—most amazingly—the apparent ability to walk over land to another body of water whenever the mood struck it. Officials feared that snakeheads would establish themselves in Maryland and wreak havoc on the local ecosystem.
This story is based on the book Snakehead: A Fish Out of Water by Eric Jay Dolin, Ph.D. To order, visit www.sipress.si.edu.
In late June and early July, more northern snakeheads were caught in the same pond. Their presence became a major event, covered internationally in newspapers and magazines, and on radio and television. With astonishing speed, the northern snakeheads, variously labeled "Frankenfish," "killer fish," "pit bulls with fins," "Chinese thug fish," "X-Files fish," and "fish from hell," became indisputable media superstars. Just as the summer of 2001 was called the summer of the shark, the summer of 2002 became the summer of the snakehead. But the snakeheads' days were numbered; come September they were gone, done in with poison administered by the state of Maryland.
When, in June 2002, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) determined that the mystery fish in the photo was a northern snakehead, the agency was concerned. Maryland has long been coping with harmful non-indigenous or invasive species. Nutria (Myocastor coypus), for example, a large rodent originally from South America, has been reproducing prolifically in the Chesapeake Bay for decades, displacing native muskrats and destroying thousands of acres of marshland vegetation. And Maryland's situation is indicative of a much larger problem. One recent study concluded that nationwide, invasive species cause environmental damages that add up to more that $100 billion annually. Some invasive species, such as kudzu (Pueraria montana var. lobata), zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha), and gypsy moth caterpillars (Lymantria dispar) have even become notoriously famous by virtue of their great destructiveness.
The DNR immediately began assessing the nature of the potential threat and how to address it. But before they got very far, the story took on a life of its own. On June 22, the Baltimore Sun ran an article by Candy Thomson titled "It Lurks in Crofton's Waters," which gave the public its first glimpse of the snakehead. "It sounds," said Thomson, "like a critter from a cheap science fiction movie, a companion for the Creature from the Black Lagoon. But this fish is real and it's living in a pond in Crofton." Readers were told that the northern snakehead came from China, was aggressive ("gobble[s] up every other fish in sight"), could breathe air, and "walk short distances on their extended fins."
On June 27, The Washington Post ran a piece by reporter Anita Huslin titled, "Freakish Fish Causes Fear in Md." Huslin labeled the snakehead "a nasty Frankenfish" and said it could live for days out of water and was "capable of clearing out a pond of all living creatures." A DNR biologist was quoted as saying, "this thing could hop from the pond, across the floodplain and into the [nearby Patuxent] river, and then all bets are off. It's the baddest bunny in the bush. It has no known predators in the environment, can grow to 15 pounds, and it can get up and walk. What more do you need?"
A problem with these early stories was that one of the things that made them so dramatic and compelling, the northern snakehead's ability to "walk" over land, turned out later to be incorrect. Only a few of the 28 different species of snakeheads can move over land, using a wiggling type motion, and the northern isn't one of them. Other items in these stories, while not necessarily incorrect, were unqualified, and as a result could leave the reader with the wrong impression about the northern snakehead. One was its ability to live for days out of water. Like any other fish, if a snakehead were taken out of the water on a hot sunny day, it would quickly dry out and die, regardless of its ability to gulp air. If, on the other hand, a snakehead out of water is kept wet, it can, according to many knowledgeable observers, live as an air breather for up to three days. Similarly, the northern snakehead's propensity to "gobble up every other fish in sight" was arguably too extreme. While northern snakeheads clearly could have a major negative effect on other fish in any body of water that they populate, it is highly unlikely that they would wipe out all the other fish. In both the former Soviet Republics and Japan, introduced northern snakeheads have been breeding and spreading for decades, and there are still plenty of native fish in evidence.
Northern snakehead. (Susan Trammell/USGS)
The initial coverage of the snakehead discovery in Crofton caught the attention of many in the D.C. area and beyond. But what the story really needed to take off was an actual fish, as opposed to a snapshot of one. And that fish was provided by Joe Gillespie, a computer technician from Crofton, who caught a 26-inch northern snakehead on June 30. The capture of this fish unleashed a media tsunami. Local, regional, national, and international news outlets relayed the story under a dizzying array of shocking headlines, including, "Wanted Dead: Voracious Walking Fish" ("CBS Evening News") and "‘Frankenfish' in Maryland pond horrifies anglers and environmentalists" (The Kansas City Star).
Throughout the rest of July and early August, the story kept getting bigger. First, Gillespie caught a juvenile northern snakehead in the pond. Next, the DNR found the person responsible for introducing the snakeheads—a local man of Asian descent. He had purchased two live snakeheads from a New York fish market to make snakehead fish soup for his ailing sister, thinking the fish's supposed curative powers would help her get well. Before he could make the dish, his sister got better, and instead of eating the fish, the man ultimately dumped them in the pond, back in 2000. Then, state and federal wildlife officials netted 99 juvenile snakeheads in the pond. And on July 23, Gale Norton, the U.S. Secretary of the Interior, announced that the federal government was proposing to ban the importation and interstate transportation of live snakeheads, and not just the northern snakehead, but all 28 species. "These fish are like something from a bad horror movie," Norton said. "We simply must do everything we can to prevent them from entering our waters, either accidentally or intentionally."
Stephanie Griffith, with the Agence France Presse, reported that "practically overnight the northern snakehead fish has come to be seen as one of the most dangerous interlopers to threaten any U.S. ecosystem.…If the babies elicit awe, adults spark full-blown terror." Jennifer Harper of the The Washington Times wondered, "So, does the fish have an agent yet? …Crofton, Maryland's, notorious northern snakehead fish has created a global splash, a veritable media feeding frenzy of camera crews, reporters, biologists, gawkers and—yes—anglers, who have besieged the four-acre Maryland pond…."
Satirists targeted the snakehead. Comedy Central's "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" presented a hilarious skit, which offered a hierarchy of methods to eliminate the snakeheads, beginning with piranhas and going in sequence through scorpions, owls, African condors, and finally, napalm. On the "Late Show with David Letterman," the host ticked off the Top Ten Little Known Facts About the Snakehead Fish, with the number one being, "It's the result of a drunken genetic engineer and a dare."
Some news stories focused on the brighter side of the snakehead's curriculum vitae. An Associated Press article included an interview with the manager of the Khaiseng Trading and Fish Farm, in Singapore, which sells large quantities of snakeheads. The manager said, "we've been eating snakeheads for centuries. They're tasty and the flesh is so tender. …The best way to get rid of them is to just eat them."
As more facts came to light, an increasing number of articles took a more critical, second look at the snakehead story. One such article in Time quoted a fisheries biologists as saying, "this has been more Hollywood than Science," and Jeffrey Kluger, the author of the article, labeled the snakehead as "nothing more than a common swamp fish," whose form of "clumsy locomotion does not lend itself to wanderlust."
Kudzu is one of Maryland's other invasive species. Its vines can grow up to a foot per day. (Peggy Greb/USDA ARS)
Dealing with the media was frustrating for the staff at the DNR. Eric Schwaab, the Director of DNR's Fisheries Service, said the story "was very quickly spinning into these fish were going to be walking into your yard type of thing. Our credibility dictated that we keep to the facts." The DNR's ability to provide accurate information, however, was often compromised by the lack of hard facts about northern snakeheads. "It was frustrating," said Steve Early, a fisheries biologist at the DNR, "not being able to have all the information. People were saying … you're the expert, what's the scoop?" When the DNR staff tried to provide more accurate and qualified information, they often felt they had limited success. "People would call me," said Heather Lynch from the DNR's office of public affairs, "and say ‘why don't you tell me about this Frankenfish?' and I'd say ‘actually it's not, it's called a snakehead fish.' ‘Why don't you talk to me about how it walks on land?' and I'd say ‘well it doesn't.' And they'd say, ‘oh, I know, I know,' but then you'd read their story and it would say that it did." In addition to dealing with the media, the DNR was moving forward with its plan to eradicate the snakeheads. The state-appointed Snakehead Fish Scientific Advisory Panel met on July 19 and recommended that the DNR use rotenone, a widely used piscicide, to kill all the fish in the pond. The panel also recommended that, before the use of rotenone, herbicides be applied to the pond to clear away the vegetation, a move that would likely improve the effectiveness of the poisoning.
Early on August 18, the DNR began the herbicide application. Editors at media outlets saw the event as a perfect news peg for generating another story in the ongoing snakehead saga, and sent a call out to their reporters: Be at the pond by dawn. And they were there, dozens of them, trooping down to the pond's edge, bleary-eyed, juggling notepads, pens, cameras, and sustenance from the nearby Dunkin' Donuts. Back and forth went the boats throughout the morning, spraying every square inch of the pond's surface. In the parking lot and strip mall adjacent to the pond, a large crowd of onlookers was gathered. If they got tired of watching the boats and the press corps, they could satisfy their urge to commemorate the day by purchasing a snakehead T-shirt from one of two nearby vendors, who had eye-catching designs.
After the herbicide application, snakeheads continued to grab headlines and attention. For example, Matt Bivens, the Washington Correspondent for the Moscow Times, delivered "a report from the front line of America's most-watched military campaign." It was not Afghanistan, which was pretty much over, nor Iraq, which was still simmering. Rather, the "formidable foe" threatening American security was none other than the snakehead. Columnist Dave Barry argued that, "Instead of DESTROYING the Northern Snakehead, we should IMPROVE it. We need a Snakehead Enhancement Project. … We need to develop a Snakehead that is bigger, meaner, toothier, and—above all—faster. Think what this would do for the sport of fishing!" The Yin Yankee Café, in Annapolis, Maryland, held a special snakehead taste-testing event. Customers were greeted by a sign in the window that read, "Snakeheads: Chicks Dig ‘Em." Although there was some hesitation and even trepidation on the part of the diners, they soon were eating their way through the dreaded snakeheads with gusto. The verdict? Bony, but delicious. Definitely nothing like chicken.
The rotenone application took place on September 4, and within hours of releasing the poison, dead fish started floating to the surface, including many snakeheads. In subsequent days, the death toll at the Crofton pond rose and ultimately 1,200 northern snakeheads were recovered, six of which were adults, along with 1,100 pounds of other fish.
Now that the stars of the Crofton snakehead saga were literally history, the media's fascination with the story quickly waned. But the story didn't completely disappear. For example, on October 4, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service issued its final rule banning the importation and interstate transportation of all species of snakeheads, a move that created a predictable blip in media coverage. And on New Year's Day, The Washington Post offered up "The List" of things that were "in" and "out" for 2003. There, in the "out" column, was the northern snakehead.
The most important impact of the summer of the snakehead is how it raised the public's interest in the issue of invasive species. In among all the hype and exaggeration that attended the story, there was a large dose of good information and real stories about how invasive species have reworked our landscape and changed our lives, often for the worse. The snakehead story, in a sense, forced a public discussion, if not a public debate on the impact of invasive species and what we should be doing to deal with them.
If you set out to write a screenplay for a summer thriller starring a fish, you would be hard pressed to create anything as compelling and fun as the story of the northern snakehead as it transpired during the summer of 2002. There are many reasons why the story captured the public's imagination. The riveting nature of early snakehead stories played a part. They presented a chilling, albeit not completely accurate, image of the northern snakehead. In what could be termed the "Frankenfish trifecta," readers were informed that snakeheads could walk on land; survive out of water for days; and eat every other fish, and possibly every other living thing in sight. Throughout the summer and beyond, this image remained burned into the public's collective consciousness, despite efforts to correct certain exaggerations and inaccuracies in the northern snakehead's profile.
The snakehead story also benefited from periodic rejuvenation. In a process akin to punctuated equilibrium, the story jumped from one evolutionary stage to another. First came the photo, then the fish, then the babies, then the announcement of the federal ban, which was followed by the snakehead panel's findings, the herbicide and rotenone applications, and the post-mortems.
Ironically, part of the reason the snakehead story became larger than life is because the fish were contained. Had the snakehead gotten into the Little Patuxent River or become established in other bodies of water, it is unlikely that the media would have had so much fun with the story. We could laugh about the snakehead only because they didn't cause any damage worth crying about. And laugh about the story we did. When the story ascended to the humorous heights of late-night talk shows, that was proof that the snakehead had become a part of America's cultural landscape, if only for a fleeting moment. And that celebrity, in turn, helped fuel the snakehead story all summer long.
One of the simplest reasons why the snakehead story became so big was its timing. Traditionally, the summer is a slow news season and editors saw the snakehead story as a way to fill space with a gloriously enthralling tale that kept on giving. But this wasn't just any summer. It was less than a year after the horrific terrorist attacks on 9/11, and emotions were still raw. The public was reeling from the collapse of corporate giants such as Enron and WorldCom and the related meltdown of the stock market. And it appeared as if the next stop for U.S. forces was Iraq. In short, it was a summer when many people had more than the usual reasons to take a respite from bad news, and the snakehead story, in comparison, provided a good escape.
The geography of the story also played a key role in its rise. If Crofton had been located one hundred miles east of I've-never-heard-of-it-Idaho, it is likely that even the discovery of thousands of snakeheads breeding wildly and carrying on till all hours of the night would have generated no more media coverage than the harvesting of a three-pound potato. But the snakeheads were in Crofton, Maryland, just a hair's breath away from the U.S. capital, which arguably boasts the largest contingent of media in the world. When the first stories about the snakehead came out, there were plenty of reporters and camera crews ready and willing to take a jaunt to Crofton to see what all the fuss was about. And more than a few reporters saw this as a golden opportunity to step back from covering CEO "perp-walks" and the intricacies of pre-war diplomacy to do an unusual and fun piece on toothed terrors from Asia that had invaded suburbia.
While the snakeheads of Crofton are gone, a very important and serious issue remains. Every year, new species arrive in the U.S., and a few of them will ultimately become invasive. We hope our ability to combat such species and keep them from gaining a foothold will improve over time. From that perspective, the summer of the snakehead is a positive sign. The invaders lost. The northern snakeheads were stopped dead in their tracks¾in a manner of speaking, of course.
—Eric Jay Dolin, Ph.D., is the author of six books, including Snakehead: A Fish out Of Water, upon which this article is based. To purchase this book from Smithsonian Institution Press, please visit www.sipress.si.edu.
His next book, Political Waters: The Long, Dirty, Contentious, Incredibly Expensive but Eventually Triumphant History of Boston Harbor—A Unique Environmental Success Story, will be published in June 2004 by the University of Massachusetts Press.
ZooGoer 33(2) 2004. Copyright 2004 Friends of the National Zoo.
All rights reserved.
by Eric Jay Dolin
One muggy day in May 2002, two men went fishing on a small and unremarkable pond in Crofton, Maryland, just a short drive from the nation's capital. One of them caught a fish that looked like nothing he'd ever seen. Before he threw it back, he snapped a few pictures and later shared them with state fisheries biologists. They too were puzzled, but after some sleuthing they identified the fish as a northern snakehead (Channa argus). A native of Asia, it didn't belong in the wild in Crofton, or anywhere in the United States for that matter. It was an alien with a primitive lung and sharp teeth, a potentially invasive species with a predilection for dining ravenously on other fishes, the ability to survive cold winters, and—most amazingly—the apparent ability to walk over land to another body of water whenever the mood struck it. Officials feared that snakeheads would establish themselves in Maryland and wreak havoc on the local ecosystem.
This story is based on the book Snakehead: A Fish Out of Water by Eric Jay Dolin, Ph.D. To order, visit www.sipress.si.edu.
In late June and early July, more northern snakeheads were caught in the same pond. Their presence became a major event, covered internationally in newspapers and magazines, and on radio and television. With astonishing speed, the northern snakeheads, variously labeled "Frankenfish," "killer fish," "pit bulls with fins," "Chinese thug fish," "X-Files fish," and "fish from hell," became indisputable media superstars. Just as the summer of 2001 was called the summer of the shark, the summer of 2002 became the summer of the snakehead. But the snakeheads' days were numbered; come September they were gone, done in with poison administered by the state of Maryland.
When, in June 2002, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) determined that the mystery fish in the photo was a northern snakehead, the agency was concerned. Maryland has long been coping with harmful non-indigenous or invasive species. Nutria (Myocastor coypus), for example, a large rodent originally from South America, has been reproducing prolifically in the Chesapeake Bay for decades, displacing native muskrats and destroying thousands of acres of marshland vegetation. And Maryland's situation is indicative of a much larger problem. One recent study concluded that nationwide, invasive species cause environmental damages that add up to more that $100 billion annually. Some invasive species, such as kudzu (Pueraria montana var. lobata), zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha), and gypsy moth caterpillars (Lymantria dispar) have even become notoriously famous by virtue of their great destructiveness.
The DNR immediately began assessing the nature of the potential threat and how to address it. But before they got very far, the story took on a life of its own. On June 22, the Baltimore Sun ran an article by Candy Thomson titled "It Lurks in Crofton's Waters," which gave the public its first glimpse of the snakehead. "It sounds," said Thomson, "like a critter from a cheap science fiction movie, a companion for the Creature from the Black Lagoon. But this fish is real and it's living in a pond in Crofton." Readers were told that the northern snakehead came from China, was aggressive ("gobble[s] up every other fish in sight"), could breathe air, and "walk short distances on their extended fins."
On June 27, The Washington Post ran a piece by reporter Anita Huslin titled, "Freakish Fish Causes Fear in Md." Huslin labeled the snakehead "a nasty Frankenfish" and said it could live for days out of water and was "capable of clearing out a pond of all living creatures." A DNR biologist was quoted as saying, "this thing could hop from the pond, across the floodplain and into the [nearby Patuxent] river, and then all bets are off. It's the baddest bunny in the bush. It has no known predators in the environment, can grow to 15 pounds, and it can get up and walk. What more do you need?"
A problem with these early stories was that one of the things that made them so dramatic and compelling, the northern snakehead's ability to "walk" over land, turned out later to be incorrect. Only a few of the 28 different species of snakeheads can move over land, using a wiggling type motion, and the northern isn't one of them. Other items in these stories, while not necessarily incorrect, were unqualified, and as a result could leave the reader with the wrong impression about the northern snakehead. One was its ability to live for days out of water. Like any other fish, if a snakehead were taken out of the water on a hot sunny day, it would quickly dry out and die, regardless of its ability to gulp air. If, on the other hand, a snakehead out of water is kept wet, it can, according to many knowledgeable observers, live as an air breather for up to three days. Similarly, the northern snakehead's propensity to "gobble up every other fish in sight" was arguably too extreme. While northern snakeheads clearly could have a major negative effect on other fish in any body of water that they populate, it is highly unlikely that they would wipe out all the other fish. In both the former Soviet Republics and Japan, introduced northern snakeheads have been breeding and spreading for decades, and there are still plenty of native fish in evidence.
Northern snakehead. (Susan Trammell/USGS)
The initial coverage of the snakehead discovery in Crofton caught the attention of many in the D.C. area and beyond. But what the story really needed to take off was an actual fish, as opposed to a snapshot of one. And that fish was provided by Joe Gillespie, a computer technician from Crofton, who caught a 26-inch northern snakehead on June 30. The capture of this fish unleashed a media tsunami. Local, regional, national, and international news outlets relayed the story under a dizzying array of shocking headlines, including, "Wanted Dead: Voracious Walking Fish" ("CBS Evening News") and "‘Frankenfish' in Maryland pond horrifies anglers and environmentalists" (The Kansas City Star).
Throughout the rest of July and early August, the story kept getting bigger. First, Gillespie caught a juvenile northern snakehead in the pond. Next, the DNR found the person responsible for introducing the snakeheads—a local man of Asian descent. He had purchased two live snakeheads from a New York fish market to make snakehead fish soup for his ailing sister, thinking the fish's supposed curative powers would help her get well. Before he could make the dish, his sister got better, and instead of eating the fish, the man ultimately dumped them in the pond, back in 2000. Then, state and federal wildlife officials netted 99 juvenile snakeheads in the pond. And on July 23, Gale Norton, the U.S. Secretary of the Interior, announced that the federal government was proposing to ban the importation and interstate transportation of live snakeheads, and not just the northern snakehead, but all 28 species. "These fish are like something from a bad horror movie," Norton said. "We simply must do everything we can to prevent them from entering our waters, either accidentally or intentionally."
Stephanie Griffith, with the Agence France Presse, reported that "practically overnight the northern snakehead fish has come to be seen as one of the most dangerous interlopers to threaten any U.S. ecosystem.…If the babies elicit awe, adults spark full-blown terror." Jennifer Harper of the The Washington Times wondered, "So, does the fish have an agent yet? …Crofton, Maryland's, notorious northern snakehead fish has created a global splash, a veritable media feeding frenzy of camera crews, reporters, biologists, gawkers and—yes—anglers, who have besieged the four-acre Maryland pond…."
Satirists targeted the snakehead. Comedy Central's "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" presented a hilarious skit, which offered a hierarchy of methods to eliminate the snakeheads, beginning with piranhas and going in sequence through scorpions, owls, African condors, and finally, napalm. On the "Late Show with David Letterman," the host ticked off the Top Ten Little Known Facts About the Snakehead Fish, with the number one being, "It's the result of a drunken genetic engineer and a dare."
Some news stories focused on the brighter side of the snakehead's curriculum vitae. An Associated Press article included an interview with the manager of the Khaiseng Trading and Fish Farm, in Singapore, which sells large quantities of snakeheads. The manager said, "we've been eating snakeheads for centuries. They're tasty and the flesh is so tender. …The best way to get rid of them is to just eat them."
As more facts came to light, an increasing number of articles took a more critical, second look at the snakehead story. One such article in Time quoted a fisheries biologists as saying, "this has been more Hollywood than Science," and Jeffrey Kluger, the author of the article, labeled the snakehead as "nothing more than a common swamp fish," whose form of "clumsy locomotion does not lend itself to wanderlust."
Kudzu is one of Maryland's other invasive species. Its vines can grow up to a foot per day. (Peggy Greb/USDA ARS)
Dealing with the media was frustrating for the staff at the DNR. Eric Schwaab, the Director of DNR's Fisheries Service, said the story "was very quickly spinning into these fish were going to be walking into your yard type of thing. Our credibility dictated that we keep to the facts." The DNR's ability to provide accurate information, however, was often compromised by the lack of hard facts about northern snakeheads. "It was frustrating," said Steve Early, a fisheries biologist at the DNR, "not being able to have all the information. People were saying … you're the expert, what's the scoop?" When the DNR staff tried to provide more accurate and qualified information, they often felt they had limited success. "People would call me," said Heather Lynch from the DNR's office of public affairs, "and say ‘why don't you tell me about this Frankenfish?' and I'd say ‘actually it's not, it's called a snakehead fish.' ‘Why don't you talk to me about how it walks on land?' and I'd say ‘well it doesn't.' And they'd say, ‘oh, I know, I know,' but then you'd read their story and it would say that it did." In addition to dealing with the media, the DNR was moving forward with its plan to eradicate the snakeheads. The state-appointed Snakehead Fish Scientific Advisory Panel met on July 19 and recommended that the DNR use rotenone, a widely used piscicide, to kill all the fish in the pond. The panel also recommended that, before the use of rotenone, herbicides be applied to the pond to clear away the vegetation, a move that would likely improve the effectiveness of the poisoning.
Early on August 18, the DNR began the herbicide application. Editors at media outlets saw the event as a perfect news peg for generating another story in the ongoing snakehead saga, and sent a call out to their reporters: Be at the pond by dawn. And they were there, dozens of them, trooping down to the pond's edge, bleary-eyed, juggling notepads, pens, cameras, and sustenance from the nearby Dunkin' Donuts. Back and forth went the boats throughout the morning, spraying every square inch of the pond's surface. In the parking lot and strip mall adjacent to the pond, a large crowd of onlookers was gathered. If they got tired of watching the boats and the press corps, they could satisfy their urge to commemorate the day by purchasing a snakehead T-shirt from one of two nearby vendors, who had eye-catching designs.
After the herbicide application, snakeheads continued to grab headlines and attention. For example, Matt Bivens, the Washington Correspondent for the Moscow Times, delivered "a report from the front line of America's most-watched military campaign." It was not Afghanistan, which was pretty much over, nor Iraq, which was still simmering. Rather, the "formidable foe" threatening American security was none other than the snakehead. Columnist Dave Barry argued that, "Instead of DESTROYING the Northern Snakehead, we should IMPROVE it. We need a Snakehead Enhancement Project. … We need to develop a Snakehead that is bigger, meaner, toothier, and—above all—faster. Think what this would do for the sport of fishing!" The Yin Yankee Café, in Annapolis, Maryland, held a special snakehead taste-testing event. Customers were greeted by a sign in the window that read, "Snakeheads: Chicks Dig ‘Em." Although there was some hesitation and even trepidation on the part of the diners, they soon were eating their way through the dreaded snakeheads with gusto. The verdict? Bony, but delicious. Definitely nothing like chicken.
The rotenone application took place on September 4, and within hours of releasing the poison, dead fish started floating to the surface, including many snakeheads. In subsequent days, the death toll at the Crofton pond rose and ultimately 1,200 northern snakeheads were recovered, six of which were adults, along with 1,100 pounds of other fish.
Now that the stars of the Crofton snakehead saga were literally history, the media's fascination with the story quickly waned. But the story didn't completely disappear. For example, on October 4, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service issued its final rule banning the importation and interstate transportation of all species of snakeheads, a move that created a predictable blip in media coverage. And on New Year's Day, The Washington Post offered up "The List" of things that were "in" and "out" for 2003. There, in the "out" column, was the northern snakehead.
The most important impact of the summer of the snakehead is how it raised the public's interest in the issue of invasive species. In among all the hype and exaggeration that attended the story, there was a large dose of good information and real stories about how invasive species have reworked our landscape and changed our lives, often for the worse. The snakehead story, in a sense, forced a public discussion, if not a public debate on the impact of invasive species and what we should be doing to deal with them.
If you set out to write a screenplay for a summer thriller starring a fish, you would be hard pressed to create anything as compelling and fun as the story of the northern snakehead as it transpired during the summer of 2002. There are many reasons why the story captured the public's imagination. The riveting nature of early snakehead stories played a part. They presented a chilling, albeit not completely accurate, image of the northern snakehead. In what could be termed the "Frankenfish trifecta," readers were informed that snakeheads could walk on land; survive out of water for days; and eat every other fish, and possibly every other living thing in sight. Throughout the summer and beyond, this image remained burned into the public's collective consciousness, despite efforts to correct certain exaggerations and inaccuracies in the northern snakehead's profile.
The snakehead story also benefited from periodic rejuvenation. In a process akin to punctuated equilibrium, the story jumped from one evolutionary stage to another. First came the photo, then the fish, then the babies, then the announcement of the federal ban, which was followed by the snakehead panel's findings, the herbicide and rotenone applications, and the post-mortems.
Ironically, part of the reason the snakehead story became larger than life is because the fish were contained. Had the snakehead gotten into the Little Patuxent River or become established in other bodies of water, it is unlikely that the media would have had so much fun with the story. We could laugh about the snakehead only because they didn't cause any damage worth crying about. And laugh about the story we did. When the story ascended to the humorous heights of late-night talk shows, that was proof that the snakehead had become a part of America's cultural landscape, if only for a fleeting moment. And that celebrity, in turn, helped fuel the snakehead story all summer long.
One of the simplest reasons why the snakehead story became so big was its timing. Traditionally, the summer is a slow news season and editors saw the snakehead story as a way to fill space with a gloriously enthralling tale that kept on giving. But this wasn't just any summer. It was less than a year after the horrific terrorist attacks on 9/11, and emotions were still raw. The public was reeling from the collapse of corporate giants such as Enron and WorldCom and the related meltdown of the stock market. And it appeared as if the next stop for U.S. forces was Iraq. In short, it was a summer when many people had more than the usual reasons to take a respite from bad news, and the snakehead story, in comparison, provided a good escape.
The geography of the story also played a key role in its rise. If Crofton had been located one hundred miles east of I've-never-heard-of-it-Idaho, it is likely that even the discovery of thousands of snakeheads breeding wildly and carrying on till all hours of the night would have generated no more media coverage than the harvesting of a three-pound potato. But the snakeheads were in Crofton, Maryland, just a hair's breath away from the U.S. capital, which arguably boasts the largest contingent of media in the world. When the first stories about the snakehead came out, there were plenty of reporters and camera crews ready and willing to take a jaunt to Crofton to see what all the fuss was about. And more than a few reporters saw this as a golden opportunity to step back from covering CEO "perp-walks" and the intricacies of pre-war diplomacy to do an unusual and fun piece on toothed terrors from Asia that had invaded suburbia.
While the snakeheads of Crofton are gone, a very important and serious issue remains. Every year, new species arrive in the U.S., and a few of them will ultimately become invasive. We hope our ability to combat such species and keep them from gaining a foothold will improve over time. From that perspective, the summer of the snakehead is a positive sign. The invaders lost. The northern snakeheads were stopped dead in their tracks¾in a manner of speaking, of course.
—Eric Jay Dolin, Ph.D., is the author of six books, including Snakehead: A Fish out Of Water, upon which this article is based. To purchase this book from Smithsonian Institution Press, please visit www.sipress.si.edu.
His next book, Political Waters: The Long, Dirty, Contentious, Incredibly Expensive but Eventually Triumphant History of Boston Harbor—A Unique Environmental Success Story, will be published in June 2004 by the University of Massachusetts Press.
ZooGoer 33(2) 2004. Copyright 2004 Friends of the National Zoo.
All rights reserved.
Add a Comment
-
Comment by Jeffrey Michael of the Paganini< on November 22, 2009 at 1:32pm -
Hot Topics Healthcare Reform
Sons of Anarchy
Torture
Media Criticism
Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans
Tea parties
Global warming
2009 Elections
Oprah Winfrey
Glenn Beck
Most Read Rule-of-law extremism engulfs primitive Eastern Europe
Glenn Beck's white nationalist fans
Werner Herzog among the demented iguanas
Intelligentsia against intelligence
The Washington establishment suffers a serious defeat
Welcome, Tell us what you think » Login Sign up
Salon News & Politics Entertainment Books Life Tech & Business Full Menu Open Salon Top Features: War Room Glenn Greenwald Broadsheet Joan Walsh Camille Paglia Since You Asked Follow Salon: News & Politics
War Room
Joan Walsh
Glenn Greenwald
Camille Paglia
Joe Conason
Garrison Keillor
Entertainment
Movies
Comics
I Like to Watch
Beyond the Multiplex
Stephanie Zacharek
Critics' Picks
Books
Laura Miller
Critics' Picks
Life
Broadsheet
Since You Asked
Pinched
Tech & Business
The GigaOM Network
How the World Works
Ask the Pilot
Salon Communities
Open Salon
The Well
Table Talk
Inside Salon Blog
About Salon
Salon's Staff
Salon Jobs
Advertise in Salon
Press Information
Salon Premium
Salon Personals
Salon Letters
Salon Mobile
Salon Newsletter
Salon RSS
Contact & Help
Corrections
Investor Relations
Privacy Policy
Terms of Service
Editor:
Updated: TodayTopic:
Environment Monday, Sep 8, 2008 03:48 PDT
Her deadly wolf program
With a disdain for science that alarms wildlife experts, Sarah Palin continues to promote Alaska's policy to gun down wolves from planes.
By Mark Benjamin
You can find Salon's complete coverage of Sarah Palin here.
Wildlife activists thought they had seen the worst in 2003 when Frank Murkowski, then the Republican governor of Alaska, signed a bill ramping up state programs to gun down wild wolves from airplanes, inviting average citizens to participate. Wolves, Murkowski believed, were clearly better than humans at killing elk and moose, and humans needed to even the playing field.
But that was before Sarah Palin took Murkowski's job at the end of 2006. She went one step, or paw, further. Palin didn't think Alaskans should be allowed to chase wolves from aircraft and shoot them -- they should be encouraged to do so. Palin's administration put a bounty on wolves' heads, or to be more precise, on their mitts.
In early 2007, Palin's administration approved an initiative to pay a $150 bounty to hunters who killed a wolf from an airplane in certain areas, hacked off the left foreleg, and brought in the appendage. Ruling that the Palin administration didn't have the authority to offer payments, a state judge quickly put a halt to them but not to the shooting of wolves from aircraft.
Detractors consider the airborne shootings a savage business, conducted under the euphemism "predator control." The airplanes appear in the winter, so the wolves show up like targets in a video game, sprinting across the white canvas below. Critics believe the practice violates the ethics of hunting, while supporters say the process is not hunting at all, but a deliberate cull.
Palin has argued that she is worried about Alaska's hunters, locked in perennial competition with the canine carnivores for the state's prodigious ungulate population. A hunter herself, Palin has battled critics of aerial wolf hunting with the support of the Alaska Outdoor Council, a powerhouse advocacy and lobbying organization for hunting, fishing and recreation groups. In addition to so-called urban hunters, who shoot moose mostly for fun, Alaska is home to a significant number of subsistence hunters, including some of the Native population. Subsistence hunters rely on an occasional moose to make ends meet. The wolves, Palin has said, are stealing food from their tables.
"Palin acts like she has never met an animal she didn't want shot," says Priscilla Feral, president of Friends of Animals, based in Connecticut.
The controversy over Palin's promotion of predator control goes beyond animal rights activists recoiling at the thought of picking off wolves from airplanes. A raft of scientists has argued that Palin has provided little evidence that the current program of systematically killing wolves, estimated at a population of 7,000 to 11,000, will result in more moose for hunters. State estimates of moose populations have come under scrutiny. Some wildlife biologists say predator control advocates don't even understand what wolves eat.
State officials stand by their scientific findings on predator control. "Several times over the past several years, our science has been challenged in court," says Bruce Bartley, a spokesman for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. "In every instance it has prevailed."
Yet it is not hard to find Alaskans who say Palin's enthusiasm for predator control fits a broader narrative of how she edits science to suit her personal views. She endorses the teaching of creationism in public schools and has questioned whether humans are responsible for global warming.
In 2007, she approved $400,000 to educate the public about the ecological success of shooting wolves and bears from the air. Some of the money went to create a pamphlet distributed in local newspapers, three weeks before the public was to vote on an initiative that would have curtailed aerial killing of wolves by private citizens. "The timing of the state's propaganda on wolf control was terrible," wrote the Anchorage Daily News on its editorial page.
"Across the board, Sarah Palin puts on a masquerade, claiming she is using sound management and science," says Nick Jans, an Alaskan writer who co-sponsored the initiative. "In reality she uses ideology and ignores science when it is in her way." The initiative was defeated last month.
Gordon Haber is a wildlife scientist who has studied wolves in Alaska for 43 years. "On wildlife-related issues, whether it is polar bears or predator controls, she has shown no inclination to be objective," he says of Palin. "I cannot find credible scientific data to support their arguments," he adds about the state's rationale for gunning down wolves. "In most cases, there is evidence to the contrary."
Last year, 172 scientists signed a letter to Palin, expressing concern about the lack of science behind the state's wolf-killing operation. According to the scientists, state officials set population objectives for moose and caribou based on "unattainable, unsustainable historically high populations." As a result, the "inadequately designed predator control programs" threatened the long-term health of both the ungulate and wolf populations. The scientists concluded with a plea to Palin to consider the conservation of wolves and bears "on an equal basis with the goal of producing more ungulates for hunters."
Apparently Palin wasn't fazed. Earlier this year she introduced state legislation that would further divorce the predator-control program from science. The legislation would transfer authority over the program from the state Department of Fish and Game to Alaska's Board of Game, whose members are appointed by, well, Palin. Even some hunters were astounded by her power play.
The legislation would give Palin's board "more leeway without any scientific input to do whatever the hell they basically wanted," Mark Richards, co-chair of Alaska Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, wrote in an e-mail. The legislation is currently stalled in the Alaska state Senate.
Predator control in Alaska dates back to the 1920s and 1930s. Even then, wildlife biologists insisted that wolves were important to the area's natural ecology and not responsible for inordinate deaths of sheep, caribou or moose. Yet the scientists fought a losing battle against ranchers, hunters and government officials, who backed the extermination of tens of thousands of wolves. Aerial hunting began in earnest in the 1940s and continued through the 1960s after Alaska had earned statehood.
But starting in 2003, Murkowski opened the airborne shooting to citizens with special permits and expanded predator-control programs to cover 60,000 square miles of state and federal land, the largest wolf-killing operation since Alaska became a state. The stated goal is to reduce wolf populations in some areas by 60 to 80 percent. Teams of pilots and gunners have killed at least 795 wolves since 2003. Conservationists counter that the total number of wolves trapped, shot from airplanes, chased down by snow machines, and killed legally and illegally in Alaska every year is more along the lines of 2,000.
Scientists insist that the Palin administration is systematically killing wolves with an inadequate understanding of the relationship between the carnivore and hoofed animals. The state responds that predators kill over 80 percent of the moose and caribou that die each year, while hunters and trappers kill less than 10 percent.
Haber says the state's numbers are wildly inflated. His decades of wolf research have shown that wolves are, in fact, mostly scavengers. "Sixty to 70 percent of the moose they eat are scavenged, not killed," he says. He adds that the state's wolf population estimates, based on secondhand observations and extrapolations, are also high.
Palin offered the $150 bounty for wolf paws in 2007 after efforts to kill wolves from airplanes that season were, in her view, coming up short. State officials had hoped that 382 to 664 wolves would be killed during that predator-control season. State officials were disappointed when only 115 wolves were killed from the air.
Palin thought the $150 cash bounties would do the trick. Haber has another explanation for the dry spell. "I can tell you from my own research that the reason they didn't get many wolves in certain years, particularly last winter, is because they have scraped those areas clean," he says.
Last year, Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., introduced legislation designed to curtail predator-control programs, except as a last resort. "It's time to ground Alaska's illegal and inhumane air assault on wolves," Miller said. Palin quickly fired off a curt letter in response, applauding the state's programs as "widely recognized for their excellence and effectiveness." She pointed out that her state has "managed its wildlife so that we still maintain abundant populations of all of our indigenous predators almost fifty years after statehood."
Says Jans, co-sponsor of the losing initiative to outlaw aerial wolf hunting: "This is a reflection of a somebody who doesn't have any use for science."
-
Comment by Jeffrey Michael of the Paganini< on November 18, 2009 at 1:29am
-
If you have read and kept up with postings, I had mentioned something weird out there, this was on the Sky King Ranch, I have awaken to many sounds of the wild, but this sound was a little much, snapping of limbs crack crack crack, in the morning went to investigate across the canyon to notice what ever it may have been way over 6' high, it made a path of its own
I have some speculations but just like snakfish you better keep thougts to yourself, heard many of a time....
-
Comment by Jeffrey Michael of the Paganini< on November 16, 2009 at 3:25pm
-
Comment by Jeffrey Michael of the Paganini< on November 11, 2009 at 12:22am
-
Dear Jeffrey,
Thank you for taking action.
Your message has been sent to the following decision makers:
Senator Dianne Feinstein
Senator Barbara Boxer
To ensure your message is heard, please take a moment to tell your friends, family, and colleagues about it.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi Friends,
To solve both our economic and climate crises, the U.S. must pursue the cleanest, fastest, cheapest, and safest solutions first. Reducing our energy waste is the quickest and most cost effective way to lessen the strain on energy supplies, curb global warming pollution, control costs for consumers, create jobs, and improve our economy. Ask your senator to invest in energy performance and slash energy waste.
Check it out here:
https://secure2.convio.net/sierra/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=3217
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thank you for all you do to protect the environment,
Sarah Hodgdon
Conservation Director
-
Comment by Jeffrey Michael of the Paganini< on November 10, 2009 at 7:40am
-
Dear Mr. Paganini:
Thank you for writing to me to express your support for the "Nonnative Wildlife Invasion Prevention Act" (H.R. 669). I appreciate the time you took to write and welcome the opportunity to respond.
On January 26, 2009, Congresswoman Madeleine Bardollo (D-Guam) introduced the "Nonnative Wildlife Invasion Prevention Act." This bill would require the Secretary of the Interior to assess the risk posed by importation of nonnative wildlife species into the United States. Further, it would prohibit the importation or transportation of species not included in a list of approved species. It would also prohibit the possession, purchase, sale, barter, release, or breeding of these prohibited species.
This bill has been referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources. You may be interested to know that on January 14, 2009, Senator Carl Levin (D-MI) introduced the "National Aquatic Invasive Species Act" (S.237). This bill would prohibit aquatic organisms from being imported without first being screened to target invasive species that disrupt local ecologies and damage public utility systems. This bill has been referred to the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works for further review.
Please know that I have carefully noted your support for this legislation and will be sure to keep it in mind should it come before the full Senate.
Once again, thank you for writing. If you have any further questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact my Washington, D.C. office at (202) 224-3841. Best regards.
Sincerely yours,
Dianne Feinstein
United States Senator
-
Comment by Jeffrey Michael of the Paganini< on November 9, 2009 at 3:42am
- http://nas.er.usgs.gov/taxgroup/fish/northernsnakeheaddistribution.asp
-
Comment by Jeffrey Michael of the Paganini< on November 9, 2009 at 3:37am
-
After doing research I was not the first to report on the Snakehead fish.But the it was not common knowledge at all.
Nonindigenous Occurrences:
The first report of this species in the United States came from Silverwood Lake, California in 1977 (Courtenay and Williams 2004). Two fish were captured from the St. Johns River below Lake Harney in Florida early in 2000. There were uncomfirmed reports of another 3 fish nearby. A specimen was collected in Lake Michigan, Burnham Harbor in downtown Chicago, Illinois in 2004 (D. Chapman, pers. comm.). In June 2002, an established population of this species was discovered in a pond in Crofton, Maryland. This population was eradicted by state biologists using rotenone. Fish have been reported from two locations in Massachusetts; once in 2001 and again in 2004. In July 2005, they were reported in Meadow Lake in Queens, New York and persisted in 2006 (J. Pane, pers. comm.). In late May and early June 2008, three snakeheads were collected from stream in Wawayanda, New York (M. Flaherty, pers.comm.). An attempt was made to eradicate this population in 2008.
Two fish were reportedly caught by anglers in August 2002 from Lake Wylie, North Carolina. Five years later in 2007, a large adult was caught by a fisherman in South Fork Catawba River in North Carolina (J. Rash, pers. comm.). In July 2004, several individuals were captured from a pond in FDR Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The following year young snakeheads were captured in the park pond (R. Worthington-Kirsch, pers. comm.). In June 2008, a specimen was collected by the city water department from the Schuylkill River in Philadephia (J. Perillo, pers. comm.).
Beginning in April 2004, several fish were captured from the Potomac River in Maryland and Virginia. As yet, it is not known if these fish came from the established population in the Crofton pond. Another specimen was collected in Dogue River in Fairfax County, Virginia. A fish was collected from Massey Creek and in 2005 a breeding female was found in Little Hunting Creek, a tributary of the Potomac, Virginia. Many others have been collected in 2006 and 2007 in the Potomac basin centering around Dogue and Little Hunting creeks in Virginia and from the Anacostia River in Maryland (J. Odenkirk, pers. comm.). In April 2008, the discovery of a single specimen in a ditch near Monroe, Arkansas, led to the determination that a population appears to be established (L. Holt, pers. comm.).
Ecology: This species reaches sexual maturity in 2 to 3 years at approximately 30-35 cm (12-14 inches) in length. Females release 1,300 to 15,000 eggs per spawn, which can occur 1 to 5 times per year. The floating eggs take 28 hours to hatch at 31oC, 45 hours at 25oC and much longer at cooler temperatures. Larvae remain in a nest guarded by their parents until yolk absorption is complete at approximately 8 mm in length. At approximately 18 mm the young begin feeding on small crustaceans and fish larvae. The northern snakehead has been reported to be an obligate air breather, which means that it can live in oxygen-depleted waters by gulping air at the water's surface and survive several days out of water if kept moist.
Means of Introduction: This fish is popular in the Asian food market and most introductions were likely released for this purpose. This was the case in the founding individuals of the Crofton pond population in Maryland.
Status:
Channa argus is established in Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New York, but is not established in California, Florida, Massachusetts, and North Carolina where a few individual fish have been collected. However, the northern snakehead was eradicated from the Crofton pond in Maryland where it was established. The species is well established in the Potomac River and several of its tributaries in Virginia and Maryland. Although young fish were found, the status of the Philadelphia population is uncertain. Officials believe fish may have gotten into the lower Schuylkill River and Delaware River in Pennsylvania and see no practical means to eradicate them. In March 2009, the population in Little Piney Creek drainage was eradicated with the application rotenone to more 700 km of creeks, ditches, and backwaters (L. Holt, pers.comm.). The population in Catlin Creek, New York was also treated with rotenone.
Impact of Introduction: Specific impacts are unknown surrounding the Potomac population. It is too soon to make that determination. These predatory fishes compete with native species for food and habitat. Juveniles eat zooplankton, insect larvae, small crustaceans, and the fry of other fish. As adults they feed mostly on other fishes, with the remainder of their diet comprised of crustaceans, frogs, small reptiles, and sometimes small birds and mammals.
Remarks: Channa argus prefers stagnant shallow ponds, swamps and slow streams with mud or vegetated substrate, with temperatures ranging from 0 to >30oC. There is no evidence that juveniles or adult snakeheads escaped from the Crofton ponds. The northern snakehead has a wider latitudinal range and temperature tolerance than other snakehead species. It also seems to be adaptable to a wide range of aquatic environments, as evidenced by the spread of reproducing, introduced populations in Asia and Japan. The presence of juveniles in the Crofton pond, evidence of reproduction there, demonstrates the significant potential that the northern snakehead would invade ponds, lakes and rivers in Maryland. Rotenone can be used to eradicate northern snakeheads from lakes and ponds, however this chemical treatment will kill non-target fish species. Rotenone should be applied to the pond or lake with both surface spray application and injected underwater over the entire pond sufficient to achieve a dosage of at least 3 parts per million.
-
Comment by Jeffrey Michael of the Paganini< on November 9, 2009 at 3:28am
-
Taxonomic name: Channa argus (Cantor, 1842)
Synonyms: Channa argus argus, Ophicephalus argus, Ophicephalus nigricans, Ophicephalus pekinensis
Common names: amur snakehead (English), eastern snakehead (English), ga mul chi (Korean), kamuruchi (Japanese), northern snakehead (English), ocellated snakehead (English), raigyo (Japanese), zmeegolov (Russian)
Organism type: fish
Little is known of the impacts of the northern snakehead (Channa argus), but as a voracious top-level predator with no natural enemies, its introduction could interrupt and devastate the food web of freshwater systems. Although it can live outside the water for up to 4 days, biologists believe that C. argus is not well adapted to land travel. The major threat of dispersal is through human release.
Description
C. argus has a torpedo-shaped body that tapers towards the tail. Young are golden brown to pale gray in colour, turning dark brown and developing black splotches as they age. Other distinguishing characteristics are long dorsal and anal fins, small head, and large mouth. Adults can grow up to 1.2 metres long and weigh up to 15 pounds.
Occurs in:
lakes, water courses, wetlands
Habitat description
C. argus inhabits freshwater with a temperature range of 0 to 30°C. It has been found in swamps, shallow ponds, and slow moving streams with vegetated or muddy substrate. Although C. argus is not well adapted to land travel, it can survive out of water up to four days breathing oxygen.
General impacts
C. argus could cause devastation to freshwater ecosystems of the United States because of its predacious nature, lack of natural predators, high fertility, and adaptability to a wide range of environmental conditions. Where introduced, it could bring disease and harm native organisms. These changes could also hurt local economies dependent on fishing (Courtenay, W., pers. comm., 2003).
Uses
C. argus is imported and sold in live food trade markets around the world as a food source for human consumption.
Notes
A subspecies C. argus argus is common in China and Korea. Another subspecies, C. argus warpachowski, is found in the Amur River of Russia and China. "In the 1960s it was introduced into the Aral Sea basin and has become widespread in that basin's rivers" (Hilton, 2002).
Geographical range
Native range: C. argus is native to China and Korea.
Known introduced range: It has been found in Japan, western Asia, eastern Europe, and 5 states in the United States.
Introduction pathways to new locations
Live food trade: Snakeheads are imported for food but it seems that surplus fish are sometimes released into the environment for a variety of reasons.
Local dispersal methods
Natural dispersal (local): The snakehead may move in stream and river networks, reproducing and spreading to adjacent watersheds.
Other (local): Direct intentional release by members of the public of these fish into freshwater locations appears to be the most probable introduction mechanism (Carlton, J., pers. comm., 2002).
Management information
Preventative measures: C. argus (and all snakeheads) were banned from importation and interstate transport in the USA in October 2002 (Courtenay, W., pers. comm., 2003).
Chemical: In Crofton pond, Maryland, USA, herbicides (Diquat Dibromide and Glyphosate) were used to lower oxygen levels, then a piscicide (Rotenone) was used to poison the fish (Hilton, 2002). Eradication would be much more complicated in rivers, streams, or larger lakes.
Nutrition
Young C. argus eat zooplankton. At a length of about 18mm, they begin to eat fish larvae and small crustaceans. Adults prefer fish but will eat frogs, crustaceans, and even small reptiles, birds, and mammals. They remain close to shore, typically under aquatic vegetation, and are most active at dusk and dawn, feeding very near the shore (Courtenay, W., pers. comm., 2003).
Reproduction
Parents guard the young until they are approximately 18mm in length. C. argus spawns 1 to 5 times a year and lays 1,300 to 15,000 eggs per spawn.
Lifecycle stages
C. argus matures at 2 years when it is approximately 30cm in length and spawns in June or July in its native range.
Reviewed by: Dr. Walter R. Courtenay, Research Fishery Biologist, Center for Aquatic Resources Studies, USGS Florida Integrated Science Centers.
Compiled by: National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII) & IUCN/SSC Invasive Species Specialist Group (ISSG)
-
Comment by Jeffrey Michael of the Paganini< on November 9, 2009 at 3:22am
-
USGS Confirms Snakeheads in NYC Lake
Invasive fish species threatens native fauna
Released: 8/2/2005 6:14:32 AM
Contact Information:
U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey
Office of Communication
119 National Center
Reston, VA 20192 Elise M. Cortina
Phone: 352-264-3545
Catherine Puckett
Phone: 352-264-3532
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
U.S. Geological Survey fisheries biologists in Gainesville, Fla., have confirmed the presence of the voracious non-native northern snakehead fish in Meadow Lake in Queens, N.Y. Five specimens have been collected by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation from the lake in Flushing Meadows Corona Park since early July. In the last 5 years, these adept predatory fish have been found in rivers and ponds in Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Virginia, threatening the well-being of native aquatic species.
The northern snakehead is an air-breathing, freshwater fish native to waters ranging from southern Siberia to south-central China. This species is highly valued as a food fish in its native range, and was exported to the United States for live sale in some markets and restaurants before October 2002.
Juvenile and adult snakeheads feed almost exclusively on other fishes (90-95 percent of their diet). Northern snakeheads also protect their young through the post-larval stage, which further encourages the establishment of a feral snakehead population. Fisheries biologists consider the snakehead an invasive species because of the threat they pose to native species and aquatic ecosystems.
At present, researchers have not determined if the Meadow Lake population is established as a reproducing population. According to USGS fisheries biologist Walter Courtenay, however, the range in length of the collected specimens from 15 to 28 inches suggests the presence of two distinct year age groups of snakeheads in Meadow Lake.
A comprehensive snakehead fish study, including a biological synopsis, risk assessment, and accounts for each species, was conducted from September 2001 to September 2002 by the U.S. Geological Survey and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The entire report can be accessed online by visiting the USGS Web site at http://fisc.er.usgs.gov/Snakehead_circ_1251/index.html.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
Comment by Jeffrey Michael of the Paganini< on November 9, 2009 at 3:03am
-
http://www.inetdesign.com/wolfdunn/breeds/ Life on the Sky King Ranch
To let you know a little bit more, what was going on before the Snakhead, if you hit link these were my animals and best friends, we did not have to many visitors due to the fact of there protective nature.Had some native american friends come to visit, first thing they said was geez Jeff you got wolves, standing back behind there car. so I pointed to my animals and they took off down the canyon for awhile, we had a good visit and the spent the night,So next morning I suggested they take a hike and look around.So they may get out the door I took my animals on a little walk they took off the other way. When they returned the saw me talking with my animals them licking me on the face and such, I communicating with them about all sorts of things. So the stayed went back in the house for lunch. We were talking my friends and I, that was the day I was given my Indian name Talks With Wolves, I8 have written under this name and have been called it on the reservation and known by it.
Next the missing chickens,we had Banties Built them a huge pen with 6' chickenwire fence had a huge tank cut in two with a cut out door and straw floor for them.I was surprised one day to see a few of them roosting in this pine tree, they had to fly up there since the nearest branches were 12' up, but stay in there caged area, that was in there area.
But on chicken count I was missing one of them a day, checked the fencing all the time. Nothing, till on day walking with my animals from the main roadnto the house AH I said, there was a huge red winged hawk swooping down from his perch, where I seen him many times, to latch on to a chicken and fly of with it. No the plot thickens, the next day hid out to observe , sure enought did the same thing,so time to down to town 4 miles away. Middle town has a nice hardware store picked some more chicken wire to raise the fence,I raised another 3' because of oberserving the hawks flight path . Put up and went about my business next day all chickens accounted for and the day after, I thought I did something right and did not see that hawk around. 3 days latter got my animals together to check my water supply up the mountain and ha......... laying in the trail was no other than the hawk, seems he had a little accident and broke his neck, must to flew into the fence tilt boogie, to make a long story short had him stuffed and had him on a perch in my living room, saga of the wild west.
About
© 2010 Created by Frizzey Lights on Ning. Create Your Own Social Network
You need to be a member of Frizzey Lights World to add comments!
Join this social network