Upper Bay Lower Susquehanna E.coli bacteria

[Mike]

I saw a Snakehead above Safe Harbor...actually up above Red Hill Dam above Goldsboro.

Were you able to distinguish that species from a bowfin?

 

[caddisflyer]

Big channel and flathead cats are made into excellent eating fish by filleting out the brown lateral band from the meat. I also don’t eat the belly meat, which is fatty, in my view tastes bad, and is one of the locations in fish where certain contaminants build up in association with the lipids located there (fatty nature of certain parts of fish).

I am not to enthusiastic about eating fish from the Susquehanna. Maybe its just me.

 

[caddisflyer]

Were you able to distinguish that species from a bowfin?

I believe so. the markings were very prominent on the fish I saw.

 

[jifigz]

I saw a Snakehead above Safe Harbor...actually up above Red Hill Dam above Goldsboro.

Yeah, I'm not worried about the snakeheads impacting the upper susky and the Juniata. I don't think they are going to thrive in those places.

 

[Mike]

I believe so. the markings were very prominent on the fish I saw.

Sounds right, but I had to ask. I have little doubt that snakeheads could be up there by now via fishlifts located downstream and the fishway if all have been operating.

 

[Mike]

I am not to enthusiastic about eating fish from the Susquehanna. Maybe its just me.

I wasn’t suggesting that you should be. That’s a personal decision. Just noting how I prepared larger cats in general for consumption in the past as I learned that I just didn’t have to rely on the smaller cats for decent tasting fillets. Purely from a taste standpoint and not considering where they came from or possible contaminants, the occasional larger cats “became” quite good. I also check the health advisories in the rear of the Summary Booklet for given waters, the species from those waters, and length ranges when listed. With all of that, fish of a given species may taste good from one water and not so good from another because of fish flesh tainting in the aquatic environment that can also take place.

 

[caddisflyer]

Quite a few of the bigger stripers that are being caught lower down in the bay are showing the skin lesions similar to what I remember seeing on our Smallmouth Bass in the river several years ago. I caught a few stripers last year that had the lesions too. Assume this is related to pollution? The fishermen I have talked with feel it is caused by bacteria and wastewater and farm run off combined with warmer water temps.

 

[Mike]

Quite a few of the bigger stripers that are being caught lower down in the bay are showing the skin lesions similar to what I remember seeing on our Smallmouth Bass in the river several years ago. I caught a few stripers last year that had the lesions too. Assume this is related to pollution? The fishermen I have talked with feel it is caused by bacteria and wastewater and farm run off combined with warmer water temps.

Could be Mycobacteriosis, known for short as Myco, which is NOT what affected the adult SMB in the Susquehanna in Pa. Myco has been a concern of striped bass biologists for quite a while. Search Mycobacteriosis in striped bass. Search bacterium, etc affecting Susquehanna River smallmouth bass. Undoubtedly you’ll find multiple causes/contributing factors (Aeromonas bacteria, Largemouth bass virus, rising water temps).

 

[Fredrick]

Were you able to distinguish that species from a bowfin?

Is there a bowfin population in the susky ?

 

[Fredrick]

Sounds right, but I had to ask. I have little doubt that snakeheads could be up there by now via fishlifts located downstream and the fishway if all have been operating.

I spoke to eyewitness that observed them bellow the Dauphin statue of liberty.

 

[Mike]

Is there a bowfin population in the susky ?

There are bowfin in the Juniata, so they are likely in the Susquehanna. The first and only report of a possible snakehead from the Juniata that I received when I was the PFBC contact person for snakehead occurrences turned out to be a bowfin based on the photo. I believe that they aren’t common there, at least in the lower half of the river, although a local might know better than I do, but they are present. A snakehead occurring above Red Hill Dam on the Susky would not be a surprise, but it’s always good to determine the best possible id of a fish species if one can and sometimes asking a layman the right questions can increase confidence in a layman’s report. High confidence is valuable in monitoring population expansions of invasives.

Red Hill Dam is an interesting spot for out of the ordinary occurrences. Northern pike have been caught in that general vicinity as well in the past.