Actually I have been contradicting Fred's "Facts" since the beginning of his love, appreciation and promotion of snakeheads.
To suggest the snakehead is just a fish with similar diet restrictions as any other fish is another flat out rejection of the facts. To suggest this is the essence of hyperbolic sensationalism. I am not suggesting Fred and his buddies are lying or misrepresenting for nefarious reasons. I am suggesting that angler defense of snakeheads is an emotional cherry picking of perceived facts born out of angling passion.
From Columbia University:
"Ecological Role: Though little is known about specific ecological impacts do to their recent introduction, as previously gauged from past Northern snakehead invasions outside of the United States. The species has the potential to wipe out a small pond and stream ecosystem, moving from failed ecosystem to failed ecosystem as the available prey becomes exhausted in the area as noted when the Northern Snakehead was introduced into the Syr Dar’ya, river in Uzbekistan. C. argus fed on 17 species of resident fishes (juveniles through adults), including prey up to 33 percent of the predator’s body length (Dukravets and Machulin, 1978).
In addition to other fish, the Northern Snakehead’s carnivorous diet includes crayfish, dragonfly larvae, beetles, and frogs giving it the ability to consume large percentages of indigenous animal biomass, thereby potentially depleting many different key sectors of these relatively small aquatic ecosystems.
The Northern snakehead also has high reproduction rates with adults producing between 1,300 and 15,000 eggs per spawn at a frequency of 1-5 spawns per year (ISSG, 2004). Snakeheads can breathe air, surviving up to four days on land as long as their skin remains moist and has the ability to survive colder or dry temperatures by burrowing into the mud (Hilton, 2002).
Threat(s): C. argus is a rapacious primary predator consuming a wide variety of prey besides other fish whose predacious nature, lack of natural predators, high fertility, and adaptability to a wide range of environmental conditions qualify it as a potentially dangerous invader in climatologically-favorable and resource-rich U.S. ponds, lakes, and streams (Courtenay and Williams, 2004; ISSG, 2004; Okada, 1960). Also, given that C.argus has a geographic range of native range (24-53º N) and temperature tolerance (0-30 ºC) and was established in Maryland in 2002 and possibly in Florida around the same time, the probability that the C. argus will become more widely established is quite favorable (Courtenay and Williams, 2004). "
Clearly they will destroy an ecosystem as proven in other countries where they have been established for a long time. Clearly the studies in the USA are showing they are beginning to destroy the eco systems in the USA where they have been introduced. What more needs to happen for snakehead aficionados to understand the true impact? My guess is nothing but a total destruction of a fishery.
RA-PA-CIOUS - Aggressively greedy or grasping
To suggest the snakehead is just a fish with similar diet restrictions as any other fish is another flat out rejection of the facts. To suggest this is the essence of hyperbolic sensationalism. I am not suggesting Fred and his buddies are lying or misrepresenting for nefarious reasons. I am suggesting that angler defense of snakeheads is an emotional cherry picking of perceived facts born out of angling passion.
From Columbia University:
"Ecological Role: Though little is known about specific ecological impacts do to their recent introduction, as previously gauged from past Northern snakehead invasions outside of the United States. The species has the potential to wipe out a small pond and stream ecosystem, moving from failed ecosystem to failed ecosystem as the available prey becomes exhausted in the area as noted when the Northern Snakehead was introduced into the Syr Dar’ya, river in Uzbekistan. C. argus fed on 17 species of resident fishes (juveniles through adults), including prey up to 33 percent of the predator’s body length (Dukravets and Machulin, 1978).
In addition to other fish, the Northern Snakehead’s carnivorous diet includes crayfish, dragonfly larvae, beetles, and frogs giving it the ability to consume large percentages of indigenous animal biomass, thereby potentially depleting many different key sectors of these relatively small aquatic ecosystems.
The Northern snakehead also has high reproduction rates with adults producing between 1,300 and 15,000 eggs per spawn at a frequency of 1-5 spawns per year (ISSG, 2004). Snakeheads can breathe air, surviving up to four days on land as long as their skin remains moist and has the ability to survive colder or dry temperatures by burrowing into the mud (Hilton, 2002).
Threat(s): C. argus is a rapacious primary predator consuming a wide variety of prey besides other fish whose predacious nature, lack of natural predators, high fertility, and adaptability to a wide range of environmental conditions qualify it as a potentially dangerous invader in climatologically-favorable and resource-rich U.S. ponds, lakes, and streams (Courtenay and Williams, 2004; ISSG, 2004; Okada, 1960). Also, given that C.argus has a geographic range of native range (24-53º N) and temperature tolerance (0-30 ºC) and was established in Maryland in 2002 and possibly in Florida around the same time, the probability that the C. argus will become more widely established is quite favorable (Courtenay and Williams, 2004). "
Clearly they will destroy an ecosystem as proven in other countries where they have been established for a long time. Clearly the studies in the USA are showing they are beginning to destroy the eco systems in the USA where they have been introduced. What more needs to happen for snakehead aficionados to understand the true impact? My guess is nothing but a total destruction of a fishery.
RA-PA-CIOUS - Aggressively greedy or grasping
