![]() How did invasive snakeheads get into the Potomac River?īased on genetic evidence, we believe the fish were repeatedly introduced into the Anacostia River. We spoke with Joseph Love, a fisheries biologist with Maryland's Department of Natural Resources who has studied snakeheads in the region. On May 21, Maryland will host a snakehead fishing "derby" to raise awareness about the invader and encourage the public to be vigilant. State and federal laws also now prohibit keeping or transport of live snakeheads. State officials are working with fishermen to keep the population in check and try to prevent it from spreading even farther. Now they pose a risk to the embattled wildlife of the continent's largest estuary, but people are fighting back. The invasive species were imported legally from Asia for the aquarium and seafood trades until 2004. Growing up to 18 pounds (8 kilograms) and three feet (one meter) long, the "Frankenfish" keep spreading they have recently been found above Great Falls in the C&O Canal (north of Washington, D.C.), as well as in the upper Chesapeake Bay. ![]() The northern snakehead has established itself firmly in the Potomac River system, with a population estimated at somewhere above 21,000 individuals, ranging through more than 120 river miles (200 kilometers). ![]() Since then, those fears have proven to be only partially correct. People feared the big, voracious Asian fish would gobble up native species and take over local waterways. When snakeheads were first discovered in a pond in Maryland in 2002, the public panicked. ![]()
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