Snakeheads?

[Jerry Rapp]

2 hours ago, Johnsfolly said:

State of Virginia states: 

Anglers are required to report snakeheads kept but are not required to kill them if caught and immediately released.  Snakeheads must be dead if in possession (contained in live well, cooler, etc.)  However, the Department asks that all snakeheads be killed if possible. If an angler wishes to keep a legally caught northern snakehead, the fish must be killed to be in possession, and the angler must call the hotline or other DWR contact and report the angler’s last name, date of catch, location of catch, and size. Kill the fish by:

1. removing the head,
2. separating the gill arches from the body, or
3. removing the internal organs and put it on ice as quickly as possible.

In Maryland (most recent regulations; previously they were to not to be released alive):

Harvested snakehead must be killed immediately after being caught if there is intent to keep the fish. Possession and/or transport of live snakehead is illegal under state and federal law. If the angler does not intend on keep the fish, they may release it but must do so, immediately. Persons wishing to release a live snakehead may do so provided it is immediate and directly back into the waters from which it came. For those willing, we actively encourage the targeting and harvest of every snakehead caught.

talk about an impossible law to enforce.  Have you ever ate one John?

[FishnDave]

I'm not sold on it.  Good to see the authors admit the fish population dynamic could have been affected by any of a number of other factors, but they want people to link it to the snakeheads.

Gizzard Shad, Common Carp, and White Perch populations increased.  Shad have a decorated history of outcompeting crappies, bluegills, and young-of-the-year of other species.  I hope the snakeheads start to help keep the shad, carp, and white perch in check. 😜  Maybe they should throw some Blue Cats in there? 

 

[Johnsfolly]

1 hour ago, FishnDave said:

Gizzard Shad, Common Carp, and White Perch populations increased. 

Dave go back and look at the tables again.

White perch numbers dropped almost 90% from the 2006 number (11,538 to 1039) and 75% from the numbers in 2007 (4548 to 1039). Only gizzard shad and carp had increases in numbers collected after the introduction of the snakehead. Though they emphasized that the water control device may have potentially affected the fish populations, only the species, like the spot, silver perch, striped killifish, silversides, etc., which prefer higher salinity would have been affected and their collected numbers in terms of the total number of fish from the 2006/2007 collections was already fairly insignificant (well below 1%). They also mentioned that the land use in the watershed areas has changed very little during the pre-snakehead and post-snakehead time periods. To me the two greatest influencers in reduction of fish abundance and diversity in those areas are the snakeheads and the carp both of which are invasive species. The carp could have increased as mentioned by the reduction of the commercial fishing and also due to the drop in salinity which likely opened up more spawning and feeding habitat for them. The lowered salinity over time also opened up more are for the snakeheads to feed and spawn. In my opinion both should be regulated as much as possible.

I haven't caught one yet, but blue cats may be in those areas already.

[FishnDave]

What I read is:

Of the 125 snakeheads sampled, 15 were in Blackwater River, while 110 (88%) were in Little Blackwater River.  And yet "there was no significant difference in species richness for Little Blackwater River following Northern Snakehead establishment." 

Species dominance was significantly higher in both rivers following snakehead establishment, partially owed to dominance by carp and shad.

What was in the snakeheads stomachs?  Shad and bluegill were the top 2 prey items.