Snakeheads

[Broad Bill]

Originally Posted by AndyS

I guess if the invasive fish are displacing the introduced fish it's kind of a wash.
To be brutally honest my biggest fear is the Snakeheads and Flatheads find a taste for American Shad in the Delaware river and that whole eco systems collapses. You can't hatchery raise shad unfortunately.

Question. Has anyone ever caught a snakehead or flathead that's coughed up a mature shad or found one in its stomach if they retained either species. I'd guess the answer is no and I can assure you flatheads aren't chasing juvenile shad when they're returning to the sea in the fall and I'd doubt snakeheads are putting a dent in the juvenile population either if at all. Flatheads like big baits, not two inch long juveniles they'd have to chase to catch. I guarantee you more juvenile shad are killed every year in their down river migration by walleye and smallmouth than will ever be by flatheads. At the same time, flatheads don't typically get active in the spring before shad have already ascended the river. Don't know enough about snakehead feeding habits or habitat but I truthfully don't see either species being a threat to the American Shad fishery in the Delaware purely from a predator perspective even remotely close to the non invasive stocked predators that have existed in there for decades.

I've read articles concerning snakeheads and instances where they've been found to have and release diseases or viruses into a water system. If that's true, I'd be more concerned about snakeheads for that reason alone than I ever would be about flatheads. I don't know if anybody remembers the columnaris virus and the substantial impact it had on smallmouths in the Susquehanna and Delaware River in the late 90s. It was a naturally caused virus that killed off about 90% of the smallmouth population. If snakeheads in any way shape or form have the ability to cause that kind of damage to an ecosystem, I would certainly consider them a threat that needs to be addressed.