Snakehead Terror a Reality?

Northern snakehead of world-record proportions. Family photo via Washington Post.

Those sci-fi movies depicting snakehead fish of man-eating proportions might not be so far-fetched after all.

Juan Duran recently caught a northern snakehead weighing 18 pounds, 4 ounces in the Occoquan River, a tributary of the Potomac. Current world record for that species is 17-4.

Virginia biologist John Odenkirk says the Potomac system now is home to a healthy population of the exotic predatory fish.

"The numbers of fish out there seem to be increasing, although it was flat last year for the first time since I've been doing surveys and since 2004. So we're not sure if that was an anomaly," he adds.

Meanwhile, Canadians are fearful of snakeheads becoming established in their waters. A man in Burnaby, British Columbia, says that he recently videotaped a snakehead in a park pond as he and his son were feeding fish.

“At first I didn’t know what it was, and as I zoomed in I realized it was a snakehead,” says the man.

“Of all the invasive species I might be worried about for B.C., the snakehead would make the top 10 list,” says Matthias Herborg, an aquatic invasive species expert with the provincial Ministry of Environment.

Snakeheads: Where Will they Slither to Next?

The northern snakehead is among the next wave of invasive species that threatens the Great Lakes, according to a team of university and government researchers. Unheard of in U.S. waters during 2001, this predator now is established in Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New York waters, and poses an increasing threat to the aquatic health of Chesapeake Bay, which faces a host of other assaults as well. 

“I think this one is coming,” said research scientist Ed Rutherford. “People will bring them in live for the aquarium trade. It’s also been found in live markets around Toronto.”

Meanwhile, my friend Capt. Steve Chaconas, a Potomac River guide, has been watching the snakehead's progress since the beginning. He emphasizes that a catch-and-kill strategy still is necessary, but points out that the catch-and-release ethic of many anglers is beginning to complicate management of this invasive.

Here's his assessment of the situation:

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