Feds: If You Catch This Fish, Slice Its Head Off

An invasive fish species is causing turmoil in Missouri and other states, and now the feds are imploring the public to help get rid of the pests. The Missouri Department of Conservation has been warning residents of the sharp-toothed northern snakehead, which the New York Times describes as a "horrifying hybrid of fish and snake" that's been wreaking havoc on native species in Missouri's southeast for about six years. Now, with angling season kicking off, the agency has issued a directive to "report any catches and sightings," and that if a catch is made, to not throw it back in the water.

• Instead, "kill the fish by severing the head, gutting it, or placing it in a sealed plastic bag," the agency's instructions note. This gory Game of Thrones-like measure is necessary because experts warn that northern snakeheads, which can breathe air and survive out of water for a period, are more difficult to kill than other swimmers. "These fish can live on a cooler of ice for days," Angela Sokolowski, the conservation department's invasive-species coordinator, tells the Times. "So we ask anglers to actively kill them so that they don't accidentally ... get released somewhere else." In fact, even tossing them onto land isn't guaranteed to kill them. "It could wriggle back into the water," reads a warning from the USGS.

• The snakehead, native to Asia, first found its way over to the States in 2002, when one was discovered in a Maryland pond. Sokolowski notes that non-native fish usually find themselves popping up in America in one of two ways: either by being sold as a captive species in the aquarium trade, or as an edible commodity in live-fish markets.
• If you do happen to catch and decapitate one, the conservation agency adds that you should take pictures and note the date and location of the catch on an online form it offers for reporting purposes.
• One word of warning: Be careful not to confuse the snakehead with the native bowfin. The department notes that "snakeheads have a snakelike appearance, with a much longer anal fin than the bowfin."

(More invasive species stories.)