Officers with the South Carolina Division of Pure Assets (SCDNR) are reminding anglers to avoid releasing a uncommon invasive species into the water in the event that they occur to catch the fish.
Northern snakeheads are native to Asia and might stretch as much as 3 ft in size, in accordance with the SCDNR.
Sightings of the predatory fish have additionally been reported in Georgia, Missouri, California, Hawaii, Maryland and Virginia.
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Officers famous that it is a top-level predator, and “its introduction poses a considerable menace to native fish populations.”
Ross Self, freshwater fisheries part chief with the S.C. Division of Pure Assets (SCDNR), mentioned in an emailed assertion to Fox Information Digital, “No documented sightings of northern snakehead fish in South Carolina have been reported since some had been present in small numbers in personal ponds in Georgia and North Carolina in 2019.”
“The one documented snakehead ever seen in South Carolina was one which was voluntarily was SCDNR 15 years in the past by a gentleman in Lake Metropolis, who had saved it in an aquarium,” mentioned Self.
He mentioned the warning that SCDNR issued in 2019 stays the identical: “If anglers catch one, destroy it.”
The SCDNR advises anglers who catch the fish to reel it in, “preserve the fish, [then] freeze it or place it on ice and get in touch with the S.C. Division of Pure Assets.”
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When taking photos of a snakehead, embody “closeups of its mouth, fins and tail, and word the place it was caught (waterbody, landmarks or GPS coordinates),” the company additionally suggested.
Snakehead fish are able to respiration out of the water and might transfer brief distances on land, specialists mentioned.
“It’s believed that the northern snakehead fish entered america when aquarium homeowners discarded their undesirable unique captive species into native waterways,” the New York Invasive Species Data (IS) reported on-line.
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“Snakehead fish breeding happens in the course of the summer season months (June to August),” the IS web site mentioned.
It mentioned there’s not a full understanding of the snakehead fish’s reproductive cycle.
Species of snakehead fish had been added to the record of injurious wildlife beneath the Lacey Act in 2002.
The Lacey Act prohibits the transportation, possession or importation of specific fish, in accordance with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.
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In South Carolina, it is illegal to own, transport or promote stay snakehead fish.
Self mentioned that South Carolina’s native fish, a bowfin, seems to be much like snakeheads, and anglers have despatched SCDNR images of bowfin from anglers who thought they may have caught a snakehead.
He mentioned he is asking anglers to not persecute native bowfin simply because they resemble snakeheads.
In Could, for less than the fourth time within the state of Missouri, an angler caught a northern snakehead fish, the Missouri Division of Conservation (MDC) reported.
The MDC suggested anglers to not launch the fish or throw it alongside the financial institution.
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As a substitute, anglers ought to {photograph} the fish so officers can positively determine the species and be aware of the situation the place it was caught.
Fox Information Digital’s Sydney Borchers contributed reporting.