Re: NANFA-- FW: Snakehead Advisory Panel : Report on the web

Christopher Scharpf (ichthos_at_charm.net)
Tue, 30 Jul 2002 16:09:17 GMT

> Like I said they have released them everywhere else, why should that
> pond be special?

To preserve one of the waterbodies in the southeastern US that is
flathead-free?

> You could release 6 or 7 male flat heads, last time i checked males
> don't reproduce. ;-)

How long would it take the flatheads to eradicate the snakeheads? Is the
size of the pond of factor? Would the flatheads feed on other fishes first,
giving the snakeheads a chance to grow their populations and potentially
spread outside the pond into the nearby Patuxent River? Since
snakeheads are air-breathers that stay close to the surface, would the
primarily benthic flatheads ever get to them? There are just too many
unanswered biotic factors at play here to warrant fighting an exotic with an
exotic. The most parsiminous solution is to temporarily poison the pond.
The pond -- which is manmade anyway, a former excavation pit -- could be
restocked.

Chris Scharpf
Baltimore
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