Northern Snakehead 'Frankenfish' moves farther into lower Susquehanna River near Lancaster

The Northern Snakehead fish, an aggressive invasive species that displaces local fish, has moved deeper into Pennsylvania’s lower Susquehanna River outside of Lancaster.

The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC) issued a statement Friday urging anglers to report and kill any invasive Northern Snakehead caught in the lower Susquehanna River.

The single Northern Snakehead caught last year in the Monongahela River was believed to be a fluke.

The invasive fish with a snake-like appearance is known to reside only in the southeastern corner of the state.

However, the fish commission is asking all anglers to be on the alert for the fish and to collect it if found in waters where it is not known to live. Anglers who suspect they have caught a snakehead should not release it and should report it to the fish commission at (610) 847-2442 or via email, tgrabowski@pa.gov.

Native to China, Russia and South Korea, the snakehead is a predatory fish with a voracious appetite. It competes for food with native fish such as smallmouth bass, walleye and sauger, potentially impacting their populations. Pennsylvania law prohibits the possession, sale, purchase and transport of live snakeheads.

The invasive fish species made its way farther up the Susquehanna River, slipping in with American shad when they entered a special lift at a Maryland dam to assist migrating American shad during spring spawning, according to the fish commission.

During four days in mid-May, operators at the at the Conowingo Dam’s fish lift in Maryland observed 35 snakeheads, according to the fish commission. Fisheries management of this river section is shared between the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission and Maryland Department of Natural Resources.

Environmental authorities were able to net and remove 14 of the snakeheads, but another 21 made it upriver, entering the Conowingo Pool, a 14-mile stretch of the Susquehanna River between the Conowingo Dam, near Darlington, Md., and the Holtwood Dam near Lancaster.

Due to the concern over increased invasive species passage and the lateness of the season for successful American shad passage, the Susquehanna River Anadromous Fish Restoration Cooperative recommended that fish passage operations be immediately ceased to prevent further passage of snakeheads.

“Further introduction of an invasive species such as the Northern Snakehead to the Susquehanna River watershed in Pennsylvania is something we take very seriously,” said Joshua Tryninewski, fisheries biologist with the fish commission’s Anadromous Fish Restoration Unit.

“Unfortunately, a late start to fish passage operations followed by an increasing occurrence of the unwanted fish presented unfavorable conditions for successful shad passage and have posed a serious threat to the Commonwealth’s aquatic resources,” he said.

For more information on Northern Snakeheads in Pennsylvania, including an identification guide, visit the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission snakehead web page.