Frankenfish Are Coming!

Snakeheads prey on native species. They've been spotted at Philly.
By Christian Berg
Of The Morning Call


''Frankenfish'' are swimming in the Delaware River.

Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission officials have confirmed what they long suspected: northern snakeheads — aggressive, predatory fish imported from Asia — are in the river and probably growing in number.


''This is certainly not a shocking discovery,'' said agency spokesman Dan Tredinnick, noting that snakeheads first showed up in Meadow Lake at Philadelphia's FDR Park in July 2004.

''We said from the get-go that we fully expected they would be seen in the Schuylkill and the Delaware, given the nature of that lake, which has tidal influence and is almost directly connected to the river system.''

Snakeheads first showed up in a Maryland pond in 2002. They were dubbed Frankenfish because of their voracious appetite, menacing looks and ability to travel short distances over land by using their fins as legs. They can live out of water for several days.

Now that snakeheads are in the Delaware, officials say they could eventually spread throughout the drainage, possibly even swimming upstream to the Lehigh Valley and taking a left turn into the Lehigh River at Easton.

Blaine Mengel Jr., a professional bass-fishing guide from Bethlehem who makes much of his living on the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers, said Friday he isn't particularly worried about the snakehead threat.

''At this point, I don't lose any sleep over it,'' he said. ''Until I see them coming up this far, or hear of other anglers catching them, then I'll get a little concerned about it.''

Fisheries biologists say the snakehead, which has a hearty appetite and can reproduce quickly, could displace native species or disrupt the aquatic ecosystem. Exotic species can bring parasites and diseases or cause genetic pollution of closely related species, according to the commission.

The Delaware is renowned among anglers for excellent populations of smallmouth bass, striped bass, walleyes, catfish, shad, various panfish and other species.

''Snakeheads are a relatively new phenomenon in this country, so there isn't a whole lot of long-term documentation as to what their impact is,'' Tredinnick said. ''There is a delicate balance in the ecosystem between predators, prey and habitat.''

Tredinnick said a New Jersey man fishing off a pier near the Philadelphia Navy Yard caught an 8-inch, adult snakehead in September. The fisherman kept it in his freezer until October, when he mailed it to the commission. Its identity was confirmed last week.

The snakehead caught in the Delaware is the first confirmed specimen outside Meadow Lake. However, Tredinnick said officials assume there are more and that snakeheads are already well established in the river.

''In a waterway as large as the Delaware River, there's really nothing pro-active that can be done in terms of going after them,'' Tredinnick said. ''We consider our role at this point one of monitoring.''

He said anglers who catch snakeheads should kill the fish and notify the agency.

''If you catch one, what we would like you to do is euthanize it and dispose of it properly,'' Tredinnick said. ''If you want to eat it, eat it. If you want to throw it in a trash can, throw it in a trash can. What we don't want people doing is returning them to the water.''

Possession of a live snakehead is illegal in Pennsylvania and punishable by a $100 fine or up to 20 days in jail. Earlier this year, Rep. Doug Reichley, R-Lehigh, sponsored legislation that would make the penalties even stiffer by increasing snakehead possession from a summary offense to a third-degree misdemeanor.

Reichley said his measure was developed to highlight the seriousness of the snakehead issue. His legislation, House Bill 1320, was adopted by the House 195-0 on Oct. 17 and is being considered by the Senate Game and Fisheries Committee.

Snakeheads exist in at least eight other states — New York, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Illinois, Massachusetts, Florida and California. A related species, the giant snakehead, has been found in Wisconsin's Rock River.

Commission officials say they have no idea how northern snakeheads got into Meadow Lake, but it is likely they were released into it.

Nearly 17,000 snakeheads, worth nearly $86,000, were imported into the United States between 1997 and 2000, either as aquarium fish or as a delicacy served in Asian restaurants, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

After regulations were changed in 2002 to ban the fish as ''injurious wildlife,'' officials believe that restaurateurs and others simply dumped them in local waters to avoid penalties.