Florida is same way, your not allowed to put a Snakehead back if you catch one. (though a chinese resturaunt might give you 15.00 for one). It seems cruel, but those things can wipeout an eco-system that quick. There are no predators that can compete with the speed of population and the way those things prey on fry.
Kill a Snakehead, Pass Go and collect $200
- Thread starter ewurm
- Start date
Research is your friend, my young grasshopper.
Their actual research says otherwise. The ecosystems wasn't destoryed by these snakeheads and the largemouth/peacock bass are heavily feeding on young snakeheads. Funny thing is that there are largemouth bass in snakeheads' native home ranges.....Heck topminnows/small sunfish are major diet for these snakeheads, while bulleye snakehead feeding heavily on mosquitofish and other non-native fish such as tilapia and cichlids.
Now the comments in Yahoo are so ridiculous......these people have no idea what they are talking
I posted a comment on there, the same one I did here and it got removed....
This
What?????????????????????????
"Getting paid to fish sounds like a dream come true to some. But does it have the same appeal if you're going up against a "fish from hell" that can travel on land and sink its teeth into a steel-toed boot?" Steel toe boot? Hardly...
"Fish from hell...." Give me a break...
Whoever wrote this article is an IDIOT
From Africa??????????????? WTF???
"We don't expect that anglers will eradicate the snakehead population," <--- You think???
"We do believe this promotion and inspiration of anglers can help control the snakehead population" <-- We are not going to control them...........
What?????????????????????????
"Getting paid to fish sounds like a dream come true to some. But does it have the same appeal if you're going up against a "fish from hell" that can travel on land and sink its teeth into a steel-toed boot?" Steel toe boot? Hardly...
"Fish from hell...." Give me a break...
Whoever wrote this article is an IDIOT
From Africa??????????????? WTF???
"We don't expect that anglers will eradicate the snakehead population," <--- You think???
"We do believe this promotion and inspiration of anglers can help control the snakehead population" <-- We are not going to control them...........
Most likey got removed by someone that doesn't agreed with you
Its funny that they mentioned that Chinese Northern Snakehead come from Africa........
To the gentleman in MD who wants to catch and keep one in his tank, be careful. If you get caught transporting a live snakehead, that's a huge fine, as it is now a federal offense (I believe). I wouldn't roll those dice...
There are several schools of thought but it appears the Maryland is mainly trying to protect the fishery that it has created in the Potomac. Most of the sportfish in the Potomac are non-native and I know that a large effort has been put into building a healthy Largemouth Bass population for recreational fishing opportunities. The fear is that the snakehead will do harm to a fishery into which the state has so much invested. It's been almost a decade since the snakeheads were introduced and it appears that they have found their own niche in the Potomac and are not highly detrimental to the other sportfish species. While the snakeheads are quite territorial and defensive of their brood, a lot of the other fish here are feeding on the juvenile snakeheads keeping the population in check, it appears. We also know virtually nothing of the populations of adult snakeheads in the Potomac. Tagging studies are being conducted, but they take a long time to materialize into useful data.
I work with fish for a living, so knowing the potential that a non-native has for being invasive and destructive, I support the current efforts to curb the snakehead population growth. We don't know enough about them to say that they are, for a fact, not harming already established species. There is a current, less publicized, battle going on with Blue Catfish in the Potomac as well. They are doing a number on the shad populations, a native species, which is already in danger. The sportfishermen love the massive blue cats, they're great to catch. However, I've seen them destroying shad on several occasions, they're much larger and I'd say they have a more voracious appetite than the snakeheads. However, they don't make for good TV and news stories and there are no efforts to attempt to eradicate them. In my opinion, we should be trying to do something about the blue cats as well, but my opinon is just that.
So, until we know more, I say catch those snakeheads, put the picture online then fry 'em up. Good fight, good meal and maybe $200 bucks to buy more fishing gear with. I can't see that as being a bad deal....
There are several schools of thought but it appears the Maryland is mainly trying to protect the fishery that it has created in the Potomac. Most of the sportfish in the Potomac are non-native and I know that a large effort has been put into building a healthy Largemouth Bass population for recreational fishing opportunities. The fear is that the snakehead will do harm to a fishery into which the state has so much invested. It's been almost a decade since the snakeheads were introduced and it appears that they have found their own niche in the Potomac and are not highly detrimental to the other sportfish species. While the snakeheads are quite territorial and defensive of their brood, a lot of the other fish here are feeding on the juvenile snakeheads keeping the population in check, it appears. We also know virtually nothing of the populations of adult snakeheads in the Potomac. Tagging studies are being conducted, but they take a long time to materialize into useful data.
I work with fish for a living, so knowing the potential that a non-native has for being invasive and destructive, I support the current efforts to curb the snakehead population growth. We don't know enough about them to say that they are, for a fact, not harming already established species. There is a current, less publicized, battle going on with Blue Catfish in the Potomac as well. They are doing a number on the shad populations, a native species, which is already in danger. The sportfishermen love the massive blue cats, they're great to catch. However, I've seen them destroying shad on several occasions, they're much larger and I'd say they have a more voracious appetite than the snakeheads. However, they don't make for good TV and news stories and there are no efforts to attempt to eradicate them. In my opinion, we should be trying to do something about the blue cats as well, but my opinon is just that.
So, until we know more, I say catch those snakeheads, put the picture online then fry 'em up. Good fight, good meal and maybe $200 bucks to buy more fishing gear with. I can't see that as being a bad deal....
