(MY) snakehead fish

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Floods round-up: Snakehead invasion raises alarm but anglers happy -

New Straits Times

24 Jan 2007

Regina Lee

 

KOTA TINGGI: While environmentalists are alarmed, anglers are rubbing

their hands in glee at the appearance of thousands of giant snakehead,

or " ikan toman " , which were swept into the Sungai Johor by the recent

floods.

 

The giant snakeheads (Channa micropeltes) were flushed out from nearby

fish farms by the raging floods.

 

Environmentalists fear that the presence of the carnivorous predatory

fish may lead to an ecological disaster as the fish may prey on the

udang galah (giant Malaysian prawn), wiping out the source of income

for hundreds of fishermen and upsetting the biodiversity.

 

Biodiversity researcher Vincent Chow, who also heads the fish study

group of the Malaysian Nature Society, said observations at the river

showed that there could be up to 80,000 snakeheads that have escaped

into the waters.

 

" Some of them already weigh 2kg, which means that they have reached

sexual maturity and are ready to breed, " he said.

 

He claimed that the full impact of the snakeheads would not be known

until at least 10 months down the road after some careful study and

observation of the next peak season.

 

However, Chow said there were already signs that the giant snakeheads

were fast replacing the prawns as the catch of the day.

 

Despite these fears, the Fisheries Department remains unperturbed.

 

A Fisheries Department official, who declined to be identified, said

there was nothing to worry about and the authorities had anticipated

that the floods would cause the fish to be swept into the river.

 

" There are not that many snakeheads that have escaped and the

freshwater fish would not affect the prawn industry. Besides, the

Toman is a native species and it has co-existed very well with other

fishes in rivers like Sungai Pahang.

 

" Anglers will catch the fish in no time as the number is still

relatively small, " he said.

 

Sport anglers are already crowding the river banks and happily casting

their lines. The Malaysian representative of the International Game

Fish Association, Aziz Daud, said: " The snakehead is an exciting fish

to catch because it is a challenging and aggressive fish. "

 

Aziz agreed that the biodiversity of the river may be affected by the

presence of the fish and suggested several ways of overcoming the

problem.

 

" Maybe this is a good time to promote sport angling competitions, " Aziz said.

 

 

What is the giant snakehead

 

THE giant snakehead (Channa micropeltes) is a predatory species of

fish originating from China. It can grow up to 1.2m long and weigh up

to 30kg.

 

It normally hunts in packs and voraciously feeds on smaller fish and,

in some cases, even birds, small ducks, lizards and frogs.

 

They can surface and even go for days without water as long as they

are kept moist, making them one of the easiest fish to transport by

land or air.

 

It was dubbed " Frankenfish " by the US media when it invaded waters in

Florida in 2002.