Crofton, Maryland - Crofton Pond Snakehead Fish Incident

Crofton Pond Snakehead Fish Incident

Crofton was in the national news in late June and early July 2002 after a Northern Snakehead fish was discovered in a pond behind the Crofton post office (not the local landmark Lake Louise, but instead across Route 3 from it).

The snakehead species, which is highly aggressive, voracious, and can walk short distances on land, came from a live Asian food market, where the fish is a delicacy. In order to ensure that the fish were eliminated, the pond was dosed heavily with rotenone, and subsequently with potassium permanganate (September 17, 2002). Six adult snakeheads and more than one thousand juvenile fish were found and destroyed.

Ultimately, the incident initiated a national discussion on invasive species and comparisons with the mute swan, also an invasive and destructive species of the Chesapeake Bay watershed but, in comparison, quite beautiful, and which garnered support from some environmental and animal rights groups.

There have been several movies inspired by this incident. The SciFi Network has aired two movies in relation to the snakehead outbreak. In March 2004, a movie called Snakehead Terror was featured, and in June 2004, the movie Frankenfish was aired. There has also been a movie produced by Ten Pound Films titled Swarm of the Snakehead which related to this incident.

In 2007, a documentary on the National Geographic Channel titled Fishzilla: Snakehead Invasion aired that discussed the ecological damage that the snakeheads found in Crofton have done to surrounding areas.