'Frankenfish' Caught in Great Lakes

[Shad0w]

Oh Oh....

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...t_snakehead_dc

'Frankenfish' Caught in Great Lakes

Fri Oct 15,12:26 PM ET Science - Reuters


By Andrew Stern

CHICAGO (Reuters) - The dreaded Northern Snakehead, a voracious predator dubbed the "Frankenfish" that can breathe out of water and wriggle across land, has invaded the Great Lakes, authorities said on Friday.

Scientists with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources identified the 18-inch-long (46-cm-long), sharp-toothed fish netted over the weekend in a harbor near Chicago's downtown by a fisherman, who put it in his freezer and posted a photograph of the creature on the Internet.


A native of China, the Northern Snakehead was first discovered in 2002 breeding in East Coast ponds -- one of which was poisoned and another drained -- and has since been spotted in the Potomac River in Virginia, in Florida and in other places -- but not, until now, in the Great Lakes.


"These things are voracious feeders. They're a very aggressive fish," said Mike Conlin of the Department of Natural Resources. "We hope it's a stray, dumped there by somebody who got tired of feeding it."


Teams will use electric cables in the harbor to shock fish to the surface to look for more of the species, which can survive the cold Midwest winter and eats other fish, frogs and even birds and mammals. If it breeds, it could devour game fish and devastate the lakes' multibillion-dollar fishing industry.


The Great Lakes, the world's largest body of fresh water, has long been plagued by invasive species, with the latest being the Zebra Mussel, the Round Goby and the Sea Lamprey.


Earlier this week, authorities announced plans to erect an electrified, underwater barrier in the waterway connecting Lake Michigan to the Mississippi River watershed to try to stave off the northerly advance of the Asian Carp, a huge fish that gobbles up vital phytoplankton. The carp, which escaped flooded fish farms along the Mississippi, is within 50 miles of Lake Michigan.


Alarmed Asian Carp have been known to leap from the water and knock out people in boats.


The electrified barrier will be adjacent to one erected a few years ago, designed to keep the Round Goby from migrating from Lake Michigan into the Mississippi River watershed, but the effort came too late.

[gonesnakee]

Right on Ontario has something new to ban now "SnakeHeads" wonder how long it will take them, Mark

[Vanan]

Alarmed Asian Carp have been known to leap from the water and knock out people in boats.

LMAO! That just project the funniest mental image in my head! lol!

Dunno why noone has targeted them (snakeheads) for fishing. They're good eating and great to fight on a rod. Used to fish them solely when I was back in Singapore.

[RepTylE]

Just what the great lakes fragile ecosystem needs. I remeber when I was a kid in school and I was taught that ocean going freighters contaminated their ballast water tanks with sea water to kill any fresh water organisms that might have stowed away. Apparently that practice has been stopped. Well now the local species pay the price.

[CamHanna]

Are the snakeheads from ballists or aquaculture? I know that several species of snakehead are kept by aquariasts; I have a red snakehead.

[RepTylE]

not sure the source but I mentioned that in the case of the other invading species in the lakes

[gonesnakee]

The one in the pic looks like one I had in my aquarium once & there are Redsnakeheads readily available for at least a decade or 2 in the petstores so who knows eh? The Clarius Cat (sp?) or walking catfish are now feral to some of the southern states & are eating everything. They are supposed to be the result of pets as are the African Clawed Frogs that are now breeding in some states as well (I read that off a link here somewhere recently). Crazy things are happening out there, might as well fish for em like Vanan suggests. For the Carp I get the picture of an oldschool tattoo where a Samurai dude is wrestling one or something Mark

[Vanan]

Snakeheads were introduced into NA mostly due to the Asian Food market. They're a delicacy and considered to have rejuvenating properties. Yes aquaculture also is a culprit but not as much as the food market.

[RepTylE]

The great lakes have become a biological soap opera in the past 50+ years. There are so many foreign species invading that the native species are struggling just to keep up. I believe that nature has a way of finding a way to balance things out given time and the new species might not thrive in the long run. WE just have to wait and see.

[Simon Sansom]

WOOOHOOO!
Bring on the snakeheads - I bet they put up a better fight than an ol' "bucketmouth" any day, eh Vanan, LOL!

I find it interesting that folks get bent out of shape over so-called "invasive" species, particularly when you consider that our Great lakes have been PURPOSELY stocked with "sport fish" (i.e. Pacific Salmon) non-native to the Great Lakes by the millions for decades. But, as long as it's commercially viable, I guess that's okay...??


Simon

[nguyen_inc]

When I was in Vietnam I remember eating this or something like this acouple of times. Freaked me out at first but tasted like a lot of other fish....

[Tim and Julie B]

That's an excellent point Simon. Hey if they taste ok lets get some fish contests going! Kamikaze Carp hey? I never that the fish would fight back one day. TB

[Matt_K]

Here's a video of the Asian Carp for you guys! Pretty insane..

VIDEO

The video is from this site.. Great Lakes Fishery Commisson

-Matt

[marisa]

I used to live on a private lake in California. Only lake home owners allowed to use the water for fishing/boating/swimming. They kept tight controls on the fish.

At some point carp started over running the lake. And now, there is a nice $4 dollar a head for them and you are allowed to use any means you want to catch them except explosives! It worked out really well.

Marisa

[Double J]

For some reason, I have to be skeptical of that footage.
I don't doubt that these animals are the threat they are made out to be, but that footage almost seems like a fun university prank.