I watched a documentary the other day called Fishzilla about the northern snakehead that had been released into the wild in the US and they ended up nuking an entire pond to kill it off. Thinking about it, everyone was going on what could happen, I don't remember them doing any kind of population count on the existing fish in the pond and no-one complained the fish were dispearing. It only came to light because a fisherman caught one, didn't know what it was so took some pictures and put it back.
Real stupid question
- Thread starter Bottomfeeder
- Start date
to answer the ops question , african snakeheads ie all parachanna are included in the ban unfortunatly.
i have to agree no scientific studdies have yet been published on the possable impact of snakeheads , but that does not mean that it has not been carried out and not realised to the public.
i know work is going on to see if the population of micopeltes in floria is realated to the natural stocks in asia via dna testing.
unfortunatly i think the damage is now done to the extent that all the hype in the press that made these fish out to be some alian creatures and genrally panic the public ,will have a lasting impression. even if some states started to allow the keeping of snakeheads, it is still a fedral offence to import or cross state lines ,and i doubt there are enough still in the states to start any sort of breeding program within each state .
the main problem you have is channa argus can live in most of the states waterways, and marulia and micos are found in florida , and from a goverment point of view it is far easier to control if all are banned rarther than just the argus , or else people would no doubt just import the banned ones under the name of a fish that wasnt banned , for example who is going to check the imports and decide from just looking what is an argus and what is a maculata or panaw . remember the vast majority of snakeheads look the same when youngsters
dont worry though because you are not allone , the ban is on its way here too , we have been repreaved of it until 2010 , our goverment is useing the fact that some species of snakehead can carry a virus ,which could damage uk fish stocks , farmers and indeed countries have been given until 2010 to be 100% virus free if they do not comply then they will not be allowed to import into the e.u. this means that allough undoubtly some farmers will become virus free, wild fish i doubt will be around after that date. luckly we have allready got several serious breeders set-up in the uk and the rest of europe.
you can garrentie at this 1st sign of the ban overthere being dropped this issue would be raised straigh way
cheers col
i have to agree no scientific studdies have yet been published on the possable impact of snakeheads , but that does not mean that it has not been carried out and not realised to the public.
i know work is going on to see if the population of micopeltes in floria is realated to the natural stocks in asia via dna testing.
unfortunatly i think the damage is now done to the extent that all the hype in the press that made these fish out to be some alian creatures and genrally panic the public ,will have a lasting impression. even if some states started to allow the keeping of snakeheads, it is still a fedral offence to import or cross state lines ,and i doubt there are enough still in the states to start any sort of breeding program within each state .
the main problem you have is channa argus can live in most of the states waterways, and marulia and micos are found in florida , and from a goverment point of view it is far easier to control if all are banned rarther than just the argus , or else people would no doubt just import the banned ones under the name of a fish that wasnt banned , for example who is going to check the imports and decide from just looking what is an argus and what is a maculata or panaw . remember the vast majority of snakeheads look the same when youngsters
dont worry though because you are not allone , the ban is on its way here too , we have been repreaved of it until 2010 , our goverment is useing the fact that some species of snakehead can carry a virus ,which could damage uk fish stocks , farmers and indeed countries have been given until 2010 to be 100% virus free if they do not comply then they will not be allowed to import into the e.u. this means that allough undoubtly some farmers will become virus free, wild fish i doubt will be around after that date. luckly we have allready got several serious breeders set-up in the uk and the rest of europe.
you can garrentie at this 1st sign of the ban overthere being dropped this issue would be raised straigh way
cheers col
Imo, the fact that it looks agro (all them teeth) does not help the snakehead. The fact that it can move long distances over moist land also tend to scare people.
Even in a country where snakeheads are native, people put up defences as best as then can to prevent snakeheads or walking catfishes from getting into their fish ponds. Once they do infiltrate the farm, the damage is quite extensive - that is a fact.... but then the farmer just eats the fat snakehead later heheheh hmmm not so funny when a snakehead wipes out a brooding pond though
Even in a country where snakeheads are native, people put up defences as best as then can to prevent snakeheads or walking catfishes from getting into their fish ponds. Once they do infiltrate the farm, the damage is quite extensive - that is a fact.... but then the farmer just eats the fat snakehead later heheheh hmmm not so funny when a snakehead wipes out a brooding pond though
Its a shame that some species like the Asian silver and big head carp, round gobies, zebra mussels, some crayfish species and even certain virus's have cause MUCH greater devastation to native sp and ecosystems compared to SH yet most people have never heard of them...
Channa Argus or Channa Micropeltes have not caused problems, as far as I know. I saw Fishzilla too. Great show. They only said about putting the rotanone or whatever in crofton pond but there were no instances of snakeheads causing damage. I read a story of a Micropeltes in an lfs named Seymore (cool name) that was on display only and kids came in and gave him cards that they made and fed him and he would come up to the glass and greet people and the owner saw in a local newspaper that they were issuing permits to ppl who already had Snakeheads so that they could keep them. So the owner callede DNR and they said no, they don't issue permits. So they traced the call or looked up the pet store's name and came over, put Seymore in a cooloer, then sent the owner a letter that said the decapitated him. THAT annoyed me.
Why didnt Fishzilla talk about the Bullseye Snakehead in FLA?
Why didnt Fishzilla talk about the Bullseye Snakehead in FLA?
Hi I think you are right thats the only solution to the problem.Give a aquarists a possible try out with their favorite fishes.
while i dun believe tat snakeheads or maybe the bigger species like micro or argus are tat destructive... but i muz say they are quite the hardy and adaptable stuff... invasive yes... but isn't it tat in all predators nature 2 hunt and stay alive?
Tropical Snakeheads like Africans and Micropeltes can't stand cold so why cant we get em in New York
Cause like they someone said earlier, someone could transport a northern snakehead under the name of a tropical one as a juvenile. Now from what I understand. 6 years isnt enough time for a scientific study to completely say yes or no on whether or not snakeheads are dangerious to the environment here in the US. But also the fact that almost every invasive specious has done some sort of damage to a new environment does raise a red flag. Just look at the rabbit in AUS or zebra mussles here in the US. With no natural enemies and an almost unlimited food supply a breeding pair of snakeheads could desemate a single pond. I think we've all seen the youtube video of the 12in snakehead tearing apart a 10in LMB. In the coming weeks I will be doing a research paper on the invasion of the snakehead into american waters. an although I do have an proir opinion on the subject i will try to be as objective as possible. When I complete my paper will post and see what everyone thinks.
