Voracious Fish Found in Maryland Lake

Wed Apr 28,11:07 PM ET Add Science - AP to My Yahoo!





By STEPHEN MANNING, Associated Press Writer



WHEATON, Md. - Authorities plan to drain a Maryland lake after an angler
caught a Northern snakehead, the same voracious nonnative fish that infested
a pond only miles away in 2002. State officials said the 19-inch fish, an
Asian species that can wriggle on land for short distances and eats so many
smaller fish it can destroy an ecosystem, was pulled out of Pine Lake in
Wheaton Regional Park Monday afternoon. The lake north of Washington, D.C.,
feeds a tributary of the Anacostia River, which empties into the Potomac
River. State biologists used electric shocks Tuesday to try to get a rise
out of any other snakeheads, but none appeared. Wire mesh was placed over a
pipe that leads out of the lake to prevent any others from escaping.
Draining of the lake could begin as early as Thursday, officials said. The
caught fish is believed to be about 4 years old, but how long it was in the
lake, how it got there and whether it is male or female is not known, said
Steve Early, assistant fisheries director for the Department of Natural
Resources. Early said the state does not foresee a serious environmental
threat, because only one snakehead was found and it's not spawning season
for the fish. The snakehead was most likely dumped into the lake by its
owner, Early said. In the summer of 2002, snakeheads were found breeding in
a private pond in Crofton, about 20 miles east of Wheaton. More than 1,000
juvenile snakeheads and six adults were recovered when state officials
poisoned the pond and two others to keep the fish from spreading. All the
Crofton fish were traced to a Maryland man who discarded two fish after
buying them live in a New York market. That episode prompted the state to
pass a law allowing the state to inspect private properties for invasive
species and take action to contain them.

In 2002, the Department of the Interior banned the import of 28 species of
snakehead, including the Northern variety, according to a spokesman.