State Official Prevents Spread Of Nuisance Fish

April 2, 2009

Release from: Mike Organ
The Tennessean

If northern snakeheads were as ferocious as they're portrayed in some low-budget horror movies, Bobby Wilson wouldn't have been so willing to volunteer his help with a recent eradication of the menacing predators.

Hollywood's description of the toothy hard-to-kill fish makes the Jaws shark look like a guppy.

True, the exotic fish, which is native to China and possibly Korea and Russia, can wreak havoc on an ecosystem. But Wilson, a Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency assistant chief of fisheries, knew he was in no danger when he responded to the request last week by the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.

The slender fish grow to 33 inches and have canine teeth but are not capable of harming humans.

Wilson's motivation was twofold. He wanted to help a neighboring state with its fast-growing problem. He also wanted to prevent the takeover from spilling into Tennessee.

"They asked for anybody that could contribute either manpower or money because it was going to be such a big project,'' Wilson said. "The (Piney Creek) watershed that these things were found in eventually goes into the White River which goes into the Mississippi River which, of course, comes into Tennessee."

The Piney Creek watershed is in Brinkley, Ark., which is 74 miles from Memphis.

Northern snakeheads are capable of breathing air and living on land for up to three days. They use an air bladder that is like a primitive lung not found in most fish.

The population was identified in Arkansas about a year ago when a farmer spotted one of the odd-looking fish slithering along a gravel road next to a ditch. It travels on land using its pectoral fins like small legs.

Wilson said snakeheads often leave a body of water if it becomes too shallow or the food supply has run low. They have voracious appetites, feed mostly on fish, including their own young, but also can wipe out frogs and other marine life in a lake or pond.

Wilson and Reggie Wiggins, a fish biologist from West Tennessee, found one of the first snakeheads killed last week in the upper part of the watershed.

The fish were destroyed when rotenone, a chemical that disrupts their respiratory system, was poured into the water. By Friday officials had found more than 600 dead snakeheads.

"That's quite a few,'' Wilson said. "There's no telling how many more they'll end up finding. When you think of all those that they don't find, it's probably several thousand that were in there."

The estimated cost of the completed project is $1 million.

It is illegal to own snakeheads in Tennessee, even as aquarium pets.

Although a dead giant snakehead was found floating in a Shelby County lake in 2006, Wilson said he doesn't believe any northern snakeheads have made it to Tennessee.

"I still think we're in good shape,'' he said. "There are three or four different kinds of snakeheads and the others can't withstand our cold water temperatures. The northern snakehead is the worst because it can withstand our temperatures."