From Ronnie Garrison,
Your Guide to Freshwater Fishing.
FREE Newsletter. Sign Up Now!

Dr. Walter R. Courtenay (Professor Emeritus and leading federal expert on snakeheads) agrees, and tells everyone who will listen that “I assure you that the Northern and Bullseye snakeheads are incapable of overland movements.” Moreover, Courtenay adds that any such ‘land’ movements by any snakehead “must occur during the monsoon season so snakeheads can keep their bodies and breathing organ moist or else these fish will die in a matter of hours, not days!”

Dr. Jeffrey Hill (Lead Fish Researcher at the University of Florida’s Tropical Aquaculture Laboratory) agrees, adding that “Snakeheads cannot survive drying out nor can they make extended overland migrations across dry ground, although that seems to be the message popularized in media accounts.” Remember, he said “Snakeheads are fish, fish need water, and even though snakeheads can use atmospheric oxygen unlike most other fishes, they must remain moist to do so.”

“The appearance of any illegally introduced exotic fish is cause for concern, but not the recent hysteria we’ve been reading about with the snakehead. This is not a short-term crisis, but a long-term problem with less than catastrophic but no less real and unpredictable consequences” said Jon R. Fury, FWC Senior Fisheries Scientist for the South Florida Region.

The legend of snakehead voraciousness is built upon very few, if any hard facts, many of which have in turn been taken out of context and grossly exaggerated. Trying to debunk some of these snakehead myths Courtenay, Fury, Hill, and Shafland all agree that:

• Yes, snakeheads can ‘breathe’ air and live out-of-water longer than most fish can, but suggestions that these fish can live without water for up to three days is a gross exaggeration.
• Yes, snakeheads can move through shallow water, swampy conditions, and even semi-fluid mud that would immobilize many native fishes. But on dry land they only flop, wriggle, and squirm their way along for short distances, after which they will die in a matter of hours, not days.

• While there have been some local reports of snakeheads being found alive on land in their native ranges, none of the 29 Snakehead species possess the ‘land-walking’ attributes and abilities of the Walking Catfish, which has been in Florida since 1967. And even the Walking Catfish cannot live unless kept in a moist environment.
• Neither the infamous Northern Snakehead nor its cousin the Bullseye Snakehead are capable of making overland migrations or land movements of any kind.
• Yes, snakeheads are predators with small sharp teeth that are very similar to the native Bowfin but, NO, it is not some finned tiger waiting to pounce upon every living thing, nor is it able to single-handedly wipe out native fish communities.
• Another truth is that the illegal introduction and presence of reproducing snakeheads in Florida, the Potomac River, and a South Philadelphia pond is a serious concern, one that should be dealt with in a commensurately serious manner.

see page three for more info >>>>>>>>>>>>