Fishing News
Biologists: Traps not catching Asian fish
By The Associated Press
CROFTON - More than a dozen traps failed to snare a type of voracious Asian fish apparently set free in an Anne Arundel County pond, state biologists said Tuesday.
The lack of success is not surprising because oxygen levels in the water were low, "and when that happens fish tend not to move around and conserve energy,'' said John Surrick, a spokesman for the state Department of Natural Resources.
On Monday, a local fisherman showed up at the DNR with a cooler holding a 26-inch fish that biologists identified as a northern snakehead - native to the Yangtze River region of China. Another angler caught and released a similar, but smaller fish on May 15.
Julie Thompson, a biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said the dumping of exotic animals such as the snakehead into Maryland waters is a growing concern.
"Everything has a consequence,'' she said. "People have to learn that they can't empty aquariums and bat buckets indiscriminately. After something is introduced, it's hard to put a stop to it."
Click Here for Full Story
|
