How Dangerous are Snakeheads? Don't Ask the Bass

Copyright 2012 by Jackson Landers

Our collective concern about snakeheads as an invasive species has been tempered recently by some new hope. A recent study released by the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries indicates that rising snakehead numbers have not hurt bass populations in the Potomac River watershed at all. This has led to a sense that maybe the snakehead invasion isn't so bad after all and we should just stop worrying about it.

I do not question the scientific validity of DGIF's study. But I do question the leap in logic required to conclude that snakeheads are ecologically harmless in North America.

There is more to the Potomac watershed than just bass. I know, I know -- I am a dedicated bass fisherman myself and I realize how easy it is to start seeing the world through bass-colored lenses.

But as hunters and fishermen we have an obligation to protect and nurture more than just our prey. We are the grassroots that funds and accomplishes most of the conservation work being done in the US. These ecosystems and waterways feed us. We owe them more than just a fish hatchery truck backing up twice a year.

How are the perch doing? What about the sucker fish? Amphibians? Invertebrates?

I believe that the bass are fine. I'm not worried about the bass. There are so many tens of thousands of us who are obsessed with bass that the bass situation will be pretty well covered, regardless. There are all sorts of other creatures in these creeks and rivers that are potentially in long-term danger due to snakeheads and which do not have clubs and TV shows devoted to their glory.

We need a long-term study that examines the whole ecosystem -- from the bottom up -- comparing it to either a baseline study performed before the snakeheads showed up or to similar habitat without any snakeheads. But meanwhile our assumption should be that the introduction of a large, rapidly-reproducing foreign predator will have serious effects on native species, possibly to the point of eventual extinction or extirpation.

There is more to the world than just bass. Heck, there's even more to fishing than just bass.