Bill Bates Shoots 12-Pound Northern Snakehead on Potomac, Aiding Maryland's Invasive Fish Fight
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · May 27
Bill Bates Shoots 12-Pound Northern Snakehead on Potomac, Aiding Maryland's Invasive Fish Fight
1 articles · Updated · The New York Times · May 27
Bill Bates hauled in a 35-inch, 12-pound Northern snakehead with a compound bow during a nighttime trip on a Potomac River tributary near Quantico, Virginia.
Maryland is urging anglers to target the invasive fish with high-powered bows because the species is spreading through more waterways and bowfishing can remove large snakeheads more effectively than rod-and-reel fishing.
The fish, nicknamed a “Frankenfish,” can survive out of water and move on land, while its expansion is edging out native species and disrupting local fisheries.
Bates and his wife, Loriann Bowman Bates, run guided bowfishing trips that turn that state-backed control effort into hands-on removal of the predator from shallow river waters.
Could turning this invasive 'monster fish' into a popular seafood dish save local rivers?
With a fish that can walk between rivers, are any local waterways truly safe?