Some Scary Fish Tales

By Benjy Lipsman in News on Oct 14, 2004 8:01PM

After the typical bureaucratic delays, work is finally expected to begin within two weeks on an electronic barrier that will hopefully keep Asian snakehead carp out of Lake Michigan. The voracious fish can grow to 4 feet and 60 pounds while eating up to 40% of their body weight daily.

And now they have ventured perilously close to a Great Lakes entry point. Brought over to the U.S. a decade ago by fish farmers to control snails and algae, they escaped into the Mississippi river during floods and have made it from Arkansas to Illinois, into the Illinois river -- they are now within 50 miles of Lake Michigan.

The fears are that the fish will enter the Great Lakes and disrupt the ecosystem and wreak havoc on the $4.5 billion commerical and sport fishing industries.

But is it already too late to keep another threatening fish out of Lake Michigan? Was a snakehead already caught in Lake Michigan?

Over the weekend, a Tinley Park fisherman caught an unusual fish in Burnham Harbor, and posted a photo online looking to identify it. "Wildlife officials saw the posting, contacted the man and asked him to hold onto the fish so they could examine it. It's now on ice, and officials said they expect to look at it later today." Should it in fact be a snakehead, wildlife officials will search the lake for more.

While smaller than the Asian carp at only 15 pounds and 40 inches long, expert fear they could do similar damage to the Great Lakes.

In other locations where the snakeheads appeared, the bodies of water were poisoned to kill off the fish and then restocked with native species. Chicagoist thinks Lake Michigan may be a bit too large for that, and nothing mentioned whether the electronic barrier to keep with carp out will work against the snakefish. Anyone out there know the answer?