well one part of it is that no one really knows what they could do to a native population, every time I go to lake wylie it seems that the fish that are already there are over fished. And yes you can make the argument that with these fish in the ecosystem it gives more food for the other fish to eat. the problem that arises is if snake heads out breed the others out hunt the others, its all very possible especially when you hear of a population explotion its probably because they grow so much faster than the other fish they have a possibility of out competing them for the apex predator which could devastate a ecosystem
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- Thread starter IcK
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I live in Japan, where snakeheads were introduced.
Japan, in many parts has a climate well suited for snakeheads, and given their reputation should pretty much have taken over every body of water over here.....
However, they are in fact quite rare and as far as I can find out, they haven't had any noticeable impact on the natural wildlife..
The concern here, is the black bass and crappie, which HAVE caused many problems to the native fish.
Any introduced species can have a negative impact on the environment, but more often than not it can take years if not tens of years to full understand the impact.
Also, the fry of snakeheads are without any doubt preyed on, by other fish, insects birds and so on, that together with the natural mortality,
reduces the number of fry reaching adulthood.
I am not making light of the situation in the US, but i feel that this campaign against snakeheads are somewhat out of proportions to the impact or lack of same, they have made in the 5-6 years since they were first discovered.
Japan, in many parts has a climate well suited for snakeheads, and given their reputation should pretty much have taken over every body of water over here.....
However, they are in fact quite rare and as far as I can find out, they haven't had any noticeable impact on the natural wildlife..
The concern here, is the black bass and crappie, which HAVE caused many problems to the native fish.
Any introduced species can have a negative impact on the environment, but more often than not it can take years if not tens of years to full understand the impact.
Also, the fry of snakeheads are without any doubt preyed on, by other fish, insects birds and so on, that together with the natural mortality,
reduces the number of fry reaching adulthood.
I am not making light of the situation in the US, but i feel that this campaign against snakeheads are somewhat out of proportions to the impact or lack of same, they have made in the 5-6 years since they were first discovered.
