It\'s in the river: The dreaded snakehead

Delaware River yields a notorious snakehead

Dec 16, 2005

By Sandy Bauers INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

When the dreaded snakehead fish first showed its pointy head and spiky
grin

at FDR Park in South Philadelphia in the summer of 2004, fisheries
officials

braced for the worst.

Tidal sloshings connect the park\'s ponds and lagoons to the Schuylkill,
and

ultimately to the Delaware. Sooner rather than later, they figured, a

snakehead would make a break for it and begin to colonize the rivers.

Now they know they were right.

State fisheries officials this week confirmed - as much as they could,
given

that they weren\'t present - that an angler had reeled in a snakehead
off a

Delaware River pier north of the Navy Yard in September.

That means \"it\'s likely we have a small population of snakeheads in
the

tidal Delaware and tidal Schuylkill Rivers, and it\'s likely that that

population will expand,\" said Mike Kaufmann, a biologist with the Fish
and

Boat Commission.

It also means a recent report recommending against trying to eradicate
the

fish from FDR Park - a long shot from the start - is pretty much moot.

\"There\'s certainly no way to eradicate the fish from the rivers,\"
Kaufmann

said. \"Once they\'re in a free-flowing waterway . . . you\'re pretty
much in a

documentation mode\" - watching to see what happens next.

Snakeheads have attained celebrity status - or at least notoriety -
since

showing up in a Maryland pond in 2002, half a world away from their
native

Asia. They\'ve been dubbed \"Frankenfish\" for their voracious,
indiscriminate

appetite and ability to slither across short stretches of land, though
the

nickname makes scientists cringe.

\"They\'re not monsters,\" insists Richard Horwitz, senior biologist at
the

Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia. \"They\'re just in the
wrong

place. \"

Absent the predators that keep the snakehead population in check in
Asia,

fisheries officials fear their numbers will blossom. The newcomers -
which

may be up to two feet long - could wolf down entire populations of

indigenous fish, permanently changing streamlife.

For a hint of what\'s to come here, fisheries officials have only to
look

about 150 miles south to the Potomac River.

Snakeheads showed up there in 2004, when about 20 were caught by

biologists, recreational anglers, and a passerby who saw a tiny specimen

flop out of the weeds at a boat ramp.

This year, Washington-area anglers caught more than 300 - a clear sign
that

the snakeheads are thriving.

\"That\'s quick growth,\" said Steve Minkkinen, a snakehead expert with
the

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. \"If we\'re able to collect hundreds of
fish,

how many might be out there is anyone\'s guess. \"

Pennsylvania officials first learned of the Delaware River snakehead
when it

was mailed to a State College lab. In an accompanying letter, a New
Jersey

man said he had made the catch on Labor Day. He took the fish home,
stuck it

in the freezer and, in October, finally packed it in ice and FedExed it.

Officials confirmed that the eight-inch specimen was a snakehead , but
were

reluctant to announce the expansion of the fish to the Delaware until
they

actually talked to the guy.

He was, after all, a fisherman, a breed known for exaggeration, if not

outright fabrication. Officials\' suspicions deepened when the angler,
whom

they have not identified, failed to return their phone calls.

Finally, Kaufmann reached the man\'s wife, and the instant she revealed
where

her husband had caught the snakehead , Kaufmann believed her.

That\'s because the ponds of FDR Park empty through a pipe and a tide
gate

into a reserve basin at the Navy Yard, which flows into the Schuylkill

virtually at its juncture with the Delaware.

If she had said he had caught the fish in, say, Trenton, that would be
one

thing. But \"man, when she said just above the Naval Yard . . . that
would

fit with the scenario we expected,\" Kaufmann said.

Fisheries officials now have one of the biggest ichthyological
experiments

going, with a \"lab\" that comprises not only the ponds of the park, but
the

two rivers beyond.

They\'re encouraged by reports from FDR anglers who say they\'ve seen
blue

gills harass snakeheads guarding \"nests\" of young. When the parents
take off

after a few blue gills, other blue gills swoop in and gulp down baby

snakeheads .

Officials also plan to inhibit the population by encouraging anglers to

catch snakeheads . They even have a tip: Bass lures work great.

Who knows? Someone might adopt a tactic used on the Potomac, where Bass
Pro

Shops and state officials instituted a Snakehead Derby with monetary
rewards

for snakeheads above a certain size.

Snakeheads are said to be quite tasty, and recipes abound on the
Internet.

There\'s nothing to keep anglers from eating their catches, assuming
they

were taken from unpolluted waters, not the ponds of FDR Park. In other

words, if you can\'t beat \'em, eat \'em.

But this puts fisheries officials in a quandary. If the snakehead
becomes

too attractive, officials worry, humans will hasten the spread of the
fish.

In fact, officials wonder whether the appearance of snakeheads in urban

areas - including a Chicago harbor last year and a pond near Shea
Stadium in

Queens, N.Y., this year - had anything to do with aficionados taking
matters

into their own hands after 2002 federal legislation banned the import of

live snakeheads , a popular dish in Asian restaurants.

But perhaps this is a moot point, too. With so many snakeheads on the
loose,

officials have decided simply to educate the public about what havoc the

fish can wreak.

One weekend last year, a Chicago museum displayed the carcass of that
city\'s

harbor specimen in a lab pan, and thousands of people went to gawk.

Here, the Academy of Natural Sciences on Logan Circle has expanded on
the

concept.

Two bathtub-size tanks have been installed in an upstairs hallway. In
one is

a living adult snakehead caught last spring in FDR Park. Next door is a

tankful of younger specimens.

Titled \"Aliens in Pennsylvania,\" the exhibit is a testament to the

snakeheads \' destructive potential. About once a week, Laura McRae

approaches. She grabs a piece of smelt with tongs and wiggles it
enticingly

in the tank with the big snakehead .

Whap! The snakehead demonstrates its appetite.

The little snakeheads usually get live goldfish. McRae dumps in about
50,

and a mini-melee ensues.

The academy staff was hesitant at first, envisioning busloads of

schoolchildren horrified by cute, wiggly goldfish being devoured before

their eyes. Instead, as a group of young visitors recently demonstrated,
the

kids are riveted.

\"Look at it! In its mouth! \"

\"Look! He\'s not dead yet! \"

Contact staff writer Sandy Bauers at 610-701-7635 or
sbauers@phillynews.com.