Snakeheads in Blue Marsh

[Fredrick]

📣ATTENTION BLUE MARSH LAKE ANGLERS

The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission recently confirmed catches of the invasive Northern Snakehead fish at Blue Marsh Lake.
This is believed to be the first time this species has been caught at Blue Marsh Lake, and the population of Northern Snakehead within the lake is unknown.
If you catch a snakehead at Blue Marsh Lake, DO NOT RELEASE IT. KILL IT UPON CAPTURE, and do not dispose of the carcass on site. REPORT YOUR CATCH to the PA Fish and Boat Commission for monitoring.
It is unlawful to transport, purchase, possess, or sell live snakeheads in Pennsylvania.

👀👉For more information on Northern Snakehead visit:

Snakehead

www.fishandboat.com

 

[GeneBeam]

It surprises me that Fred has finely found religion and is now advocating not to release and KILL snakeheads if you catch them, he has even put a link to PA Fish and Boat on what to do with a snakehead if you catch one. My problem is that he is still showing a link to his I LOVE snakehead fishing facebook web page at the bottom of his post.

 

[Fredrick]

It surprises me that Fred has finely found religion and is now advocating not to release and KILL snakeheads if you catch them, he has even put a link to PA Fish and Boat on what to do with a snakehead if you catch one. My problem is that he is still showing a link to his I LOVE snakehead fishing facebook web page at the bottom of his post.

Just cut and paste what was written, still perfectly legal to release a snakehead into the water in which you caught it .

 

[silverfox]

I'm a member of that group on FB. I only joined for the bowfin part. It's been a bit shocking seeing the defense of snakeheads on there. Memes making fun of people advocating for killing snakeheads. It's no wonder we have people moving invasive species all over the place. People like to put their angling desires above all else.

 

[Mike]

🤔Now how could they have gotten in there? Let’s see. There were no snakeheads for 50 miles. Then about 8 yrs ago they suddenly showed up in Bernharts Dam, about 7-10 miles from Lake Ontelaunee and Blue Marsh. Next, within the past few yrs they showed up in Ontelaunee. Now they are in Blue Marsh. And if that’s the case, they will soon be in the Blue Marsh tail-race (and the DH Area). And so it goes…on and on.

 

[silverfox]

still perfectly legal to release a snakehead into the water in which you caught it .

and incredibly stupid.

 

[Fish Sticks]

It never stops with invasive species, theres always another one dropped as a shock to the ecosystem as its still reeling from the last one. Boom and Bust, trophic cascades, and all cause someone wants to change the whole ecosystem for their fishing experience.

 

[Fredrick]

and incredibly stupid.

Like this one

 

[silverfox]

Like this one

Yep

 

[Fish Sticks]

Like this one

Should make one of those for those folks that says “ show me on the doll where native fish hurt you”

 

[poopdeck]

Yeah but odenkirk and every YouTube Snakehead aficionado says they don’t walk on water and kill small dogs. What’s the problem.

 

[Fish Sticks]

Odenkirk’s opinion is definitely an extreme minority opinion in the scientific community and I think a reckless one.

1. Invasion biology has stages
Arrival
Establishment
Spread
Impact

Most harmful effects are obviously in the impact stage and snake heads are still so early on in their invasion. Its wildly foolish to declare any conclusions on their ultimate impact in particular at this stage while promoting to public “you can put them back”…….not smart.
Instead of preventing further spread of invasion this guy is encouraging people to release them. Wonder how his colleagues at the snakehead symposium feel his video there.

The truth is. With invasive species there is not enough grant money in the whole to study all the potential negative impacts on the native ecosystem/foodweb its too complex. Anyone look into effects on amphibians, macros, ect? There will obviously be more studies on snakeheads and native fish communities and I guess that video is out there on youtube forever and it may not be a good look for him when more is published.

 

[silverfox]

Odenkirk’s opinion is definitely an extreme minority opinion in the scientific community and I think a reckless one.

1. Invasion biology has stages
Arrival
Establishment
Spread
Impact

Most harmful effects are obviously in the impact stage and snake heads are still so early on in their invasion. Its wildly foolish to declare any conclusions on their ultimate impact in particular at this stage while promoting to public “you can put them back”…….not smart.
Instead of preventing further spread of invasion this guy is encouraging people to release them. Wonder how his colleagues at the snakehead symposium feel his video there.

The truth is. With invasive species there is not enough grant money in the whole to study all the potential negative impacts on the native ecosystem/foodweb its too complex. Anyone look into effects on amphibians, macros, ect? There will obviously be more studies on snakeheads and native fish communities and I guess that video is out there on youtube forever and it may not be a good look for him when more is published.

Exactly. Absolutely nobody, and I don't care if you have 15,000 PHDs in ecology, can say at this point what the true impact is or will be. One thing is absolute, they don't belong here. So why encourage their proliferation at all?

In my opinion, there should be a mandatory kill rule in every state. That would at least stop the youtube videos of guys releasing them and arguing against killing them, which sends a stronger message than the states "suggesting" you kill them. Nobody would post something that implicates themselves in a crime.

 

[McSneek]

If the get into the Tully, which no doubt they will, I may have to go back to fishing it just to help with population control. If I ever catch one it is not going back in the water.

 

[tomgamber]

I'm surprised they don't encourage consumption. Supposedly these things are tasty. When I was in Puerto Rico they posted recipes for Iguana on the local cable access channel.🤣

 

[Fish Sticks]

Yea I have heard they are some of the best white flakiest fillets out there. Homeless shelters would really appreciate something of that quality. Heck they could E-fish snakeheads out of some of these places and donate periodically or use other methods to debulk snakeheads, blues, and flatheads/ minimize impact until some of the more new exciting biologic/genetic control methods of eradication are a little more polished/available. Aka yellowstone lake method.

 

[Fish Sticks]

Think They actually already did this below conowingo

 

[Mike]

It’s unclear to me what the reference above to the Yellowstone Lk method is about in that the estimated population fecundity of lake trout has been reduced by over 80% yet age 2 recruitment has increased because of improved survival (less competition among the fingerlings for limited resources, reduced cannibalism by older year classes on young fish, as examples). This is another example of the compensatory mechanisms that are at play in fish populations and supports my frequent comment here that the number of young trout produced in Pa and elsewhere is seldom limited by the abundance of adults. As it relates to snakeheads, trying to effectively (at the population level) electrofish such a fecund, reproductively strategic, electrofisher evading species out of a large system like the Susquehanna is a lost cause. This is another reason why we don’t want anglers introducing this species in the first place.

 

[Fish Sticks]

I wasn’t suggesting they could be eradicated by electro fished mike, which also is not a possibility in yellow stone with the fishing methods they use. Its reducing impact and the cutthroat are benefiting i never claimed it was eradication.

 

[Fish Sticks]

Its mowing the lawn and feeding the homeless until a better molecular/genetic technique is available. I think they actually already did this below the conowingo.