Tag Archives: Snakehead
Maryland, Virginia race to save dwindling commercial fisheries in the Chesapeake Bay
Alarmed by plummeting stocks of commercial fisheries in the Chesapeake Bay, officials in Maryland and Virginia are scrambling to control invasive fish species that are causing at least part of the problem. On Thursday, Gov. Wes Moore asked the federal government to carry out an evaluation to determine if the situation amounts to a declaration of a “commercial fishery disaster,” which would qualify the state for federal assistance. In a letter to Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, Moore said the state is increasingly concerned about the explosive growth of invasive fish species in the Chesapeake Bay, including blue catfish, flathead catfish and snakehead. >click to read< 09:11
Dutch Baldwin sets snakehead record at 18.42 pounds
Over the past four years spent as a commercial boat fisherman, Dutch Baldwin has spent four or five nights per week on the water. Last weekend, though, brought a night that made history, when Baldwin caught a Maryland-record 18.42-pound northern snakehead. Baldwin and his fishing partner, Franklin Shotwell, were just about to head in for the evening when they made a detour toward an area where they usually find catfish. They turned their lights on, and Shotwell spotted a snakehead on Baldwin’s side of the boat. Baldwin used his compound bow to hit the fish near Marshall Hall on the Maryland side of the Potomac River. “We have a quota that we need to sell, so we go out and do what we can,” Baldwin said. “If we get more, we have more. We keep it, or we give it away.” Read the story here 15:01
Snakehead scare: Fishing for answers
Snakeheads, invasive fish originally from Asia, are breeding machines that can grow to be very long and wipe out local species. They were first discovered 13 years ago in a Crofton pond, where someone had likely dumped them.In an effort to stop them from spreading, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources sprayed chemicals in the pond to kill them off. Two years later, sightings of snakeheads surfaced in the Potomac watershed in Maryland and Virginia. “These have major, major teeth,” Masters said as she gawked at the fish on Norman’s tray. Read the rest here 09:10
