Biologists Seeing More Northern Snakeheads In Maryland Waterways
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- For the first time in years, biologists are seeing a lot more northern snakeheads in Maryland's waterways.
In the last two years, only one snakehead was found in the Chesapeake Bay; just this spring, biologists have counted dozens of them.
They're warning the species, first seen in Maryland in 2002, could be expanding.
Over the past nearly two decades, the invasive species has spread to every major river of the Chesapeake Bay.
"We believe it was a pet fish that somebody decided to let go into a local water area and from there it just succeeded and survived," said Eric Wilson with the Department of Natural Resources.
The DNR said the fish, which are indigenous to Asia, produce and spread quickly. They also have no natural predators.
The snakeheads can even survive on land for some time, and that's probably how they move from one location to the next.
"We're still trying to understand, at the end of the day, what they do to an ecosystem, because we haven't seen them before and we don't know exactly what the long term impact will be," Wilson said.
He said what we do know is the fish are popping up in place we've never seen them before.
In the last few months, 81 snakeheads were caught in the Conowingo Dam's fish lift, a dramatic increase after only one was found there in the last two years.
81 Northern Snakeheads Caught In Conowingo Dam Fish Lift In Spring 2019
State officials are actively trying to stop them from migrating north.
When anglers come across one of the fish, they're asked not to release it back into the water and report them to the DNR at fishingreports.dnr@maryland.gov or 410-260-8300.
"We don't want them to be taken from one body to the next," Wilson said.
The DNR said anglers can catch and keep any size and any number of snakeheads year-round to help reduce the population.
