The Return of FISHZILLA!

I introduced the snakehead fish in last week’s post and I was really eager to explore some of the reactions this fish has evoked.

I am ecologically aware of the detrimental effects the snakehead fish is having on host ecosystems, however the irrational response of the people who have found themselves ‘invaded’ by this fish is troubling me. I understand that there is a justified need to eradicate or control snakehead populations in non-native ecosystems where natural predators are lacking, however some of the management methods that have been implemented to control the snakehead in the US, including poisoning whole lakes, and shooting them with sniper rifles are just bizarre!

In this video in which two people discuss the ‘Monster ‘Land Fish’’, the woman says that she has seen ‘horror films that weren’t this scary’.  The fact that the snakehead is a top predator and has the ability to breathe and move out of water has made this fish particularly susceptible to being demonised.  

However, I am afraid that I detected a definite element of xenophobia in these people, especially when the man emphasises that the fish is ‘NOT SUPPOSED TO BE HERE’. I am concerned that this attitude towards invasive species will misinform management in cases where the introduced species doesn’t actually pose any harm to the ecosystem and may in fact prove to be beneficial.

As Chris Thomas said in his article in Nature, ‘deliberate prosecution of the new – just because it is new – is no longer sustainable in a world of rapid global change’. I think there is a definite need to review our attitude towards introduced species if management and control programmes are going to be as efficient as possible.