An invasive, predatory fish with gnarly teeth and the ability to breathe on land for periods of time is causing trepidation for local fishermen and the New York State Department of Conservation (DEC). The DEC fisheries staff responded to a call by a local fisherman that he had seen a Northern Snakehead (Channa argus) – a species native to Asia – in Catlin Creek near Ridgebury Lake in the Town of Wawayanda, Orange County in late May.
The DEC conducted an investigation. The presence of Northern Snakehead was confirmed. “There is no native control to this predatory fish,” said Willie Janeway, director of Region 3 DEC. “They can grow to three feet in length, are incredibly aggressive, and the female can have hundreds if not thousands of young per year.”
Northern Snakehead parents guard their young, thus ensuring much higher survival rates. The concern is that the snakehead, which can breathe oxygen for several seconds and even make its way from waterway to waterway if it sticks mostly to mudflats – will find its way to the Wallkill River and eventually the Hudson River, a home to native fish just now coming back after near-extinction.
“We have many endangered species of fish and other native fish,” Janeway said. “We’re working towards restoring their populations – like the shad, herring and striped bass – that could be easily wiped out if the Northern Snakehead enters the Hudson River estuary,” he said. Although the DEC has put a barrier in the Catlin Creek and Ridgeway Pond, Janeway is afraid that “with the heavy rains we’ve just had, we’re nervous they could make their way downstream.”
Janeway considers this an “emergency situation,” as it “threatens our native fish species, which ultimately affects the entire ecosystem and our air and water quality.”
To this end, the DEC, in an effort to prevent the further spread of the invasive species, is considering treating the infested waters of Ridgebury Lake and Catlin Creek, southeast of the County Route 6 crossing, including the DEC-mapped Wetland MD-26, with an aquatic pesticide known as “Prenfish.” Its active ingredient is Rotenone, described by the DEC as an “extract from several different tropical plants that breaks down rapidly after application with no lasting toxicity.”
Janeway noted that his agency so far is just “considering” the pesticide treatment. A public hearing Tuesday was scheduled to listen to concerns, get input and answer questions.
Janeway says he certainly doesn’t treat the use of an aquatic pesticide lightly. “It’s the only proven method we know of in this country to eradicate the Northern Snakehead,” he said. “What we are considering doing is removing all of the native fish we can from the infested waterways, placing them in a holding tank until the toxicity level has diminished, and then reintroducing them.”
Janeway admits that the DEC has no conclusive count of how many Northern Snakeheads there are in the Catlin and Ridgeway ponds. There are “at least a couple of dozen. It doesn’t sound like much, but in two years that would be 200, if not more.”
The DEC staff has captured a hearty specimen, which is now being held in a tank in the Region 3 office in New Paltz. “We didn’t want to release it back into the water, so we decided to hold onto it in case we need to conduct any genetic testing,” said the Region 3 director.
Because the Northern Snakehead is a coveted delicacy in several cultures, including Korea, China and Russia, there is great market demand for them. After the fish made its first appearance in 2002, a federal ban was placed on selling them or introducing them into American waterways. Their torpedo-like bodies, rows of sharp teeth, fast speed and Brady-Bunch-like breeding habits make them effective predators for smaller fish and other aquatic food. To ensure they did not escape, the entire population was poisoned.
In August 2005 they were confirmed to have infested Meadow Lake in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in Queens.
Now they’re back again. Janeway says a national planning report had predicted that outcome. “The investigative work we’ve conducted so far suggests that the likely reason the snakehead ended up in Orange County,” said Janeway, “was that someone released them to establish a local population, which they could then harvest and sell for a lot of money in the Asian food markets.”
If the DEC does decide to act swiftly with the use of Retenone, the task will be undertaken by “DEC staff trained and certified as aquatic pesticide applicators,” said Janeway.
“We haven’t had the Northern Snakehead in New York since it was in Queens several years ago,” said Janeway. “I don’t take the use of pesticides easily, but by not acting do we create a much larger negative impact on our ecosystems and waterways than we do by acting while the fish is still relatively contained? It’s like a slow-moving forest fire that you want to put out before it becomes a full-fledged, raging forest fire.”
A public hearing was scheduled this past Tuesday at the Wawayanda Town Hall.