Northern snakehead talk is March 5 in Oneonta

ONEONTA, February 24, 2009 - The strange and predatory northern snakehead fish, whose discovery last year in the lower Hudson Valley alarmed environment watchers and anglers, will be the topic of an illustrated lecture by fisheries expert Michael Flaherty Thursday, March 5 at SUNY Oneonta.

"Northern Snakehead Eradication: Sacrifice for the Common Good," will be presented at 4:30 p.m. in Room 211 Science I on the SUNY Oneonta campus. The public is welcome to this free program by the regional fisheries manager for NYS Department of Environmental Conservation’s (DEC) Region 3.

Northern snakehead fish, native to China, have the potential to cause irrevocable ecological harm to North American waters. Although it has been reported as a walking fish, the real threat is its ability to live for days out of water and potentially wallow its way to other water bodies, or be spread by human intervention or flood.

First discovered in Maryland, the voracious fish were found in Corona Park, Queens in 2005, and in late May, 2008 in a small pond in Orange County, NY. A massive effort to eradicate snakeheads from the entire upper part of this watershed took place during last summer. "DEC believes that the rapid response following the Orange County discovery was essential in preventing a northern snakehead population from becoming the next exotic species to invade the waters of the Lower Hudson watershed," explained Flaherty.

While he said the threats to the ecosystem and the urgency to take action were compelling reasons to apply a fish toxin to the associated ponds, creek and wetland, Flaherty acknowledged that the local community had to bear the brunt of the impacts associated with eradication. These included a temporary disruption of their peaceful waterfront setting during the summer, the loss of nearly all the fish of the waters treated, a perceived threat to their drinking water wells along with other environmental concerns that come with the use of a pesticide, and the images and odors of thousands of fish dying after the treatment.

Flaherty, based at the DEC’s Region 3 headquarters in New Paltz, will discuss the threat and the impacts of the state’s response to that threat.

The speaker grew up in Illinois and holds degrees from Ripon College and Michigan State University. He joined the DEC as senior aquatic biologist in 1990.

Since 2006 he has been Region 3 Fisheries Manager with responsibility for seven counties of southeastern New York north and west of New York City, including the southeastern Catskills. His work includes overseeing the fish population and general biological sampling of cold and warm water lakes, reservoirs and streams and the biological review for potential aquatic impacts from projects requiring permits from DEC.

Flaherty’s talk, hosted by the SUNY Oneonta Environmental Sciences Program, is the first in a series of environmental lectures coordinated by the Catskill Institute for the Environment (CIE). The next presentation will be held Tuesday, Mar. 31 at 4:30 p.m. at Seelig Theater in Building E on the SUNY Sullivan campus, Loch Sheldrake. Susan Hoskins of the Institute for Resource Information Services at Cornell University will speak on "Geospatial Tools- A New View of New York (and your own backyard)."

The CIE, established in 1998, is a consortium of representatives of colleges, institutions and individuals that encourages, through symposia and research, environmental awareness, education and cooperation in the Catskill region.

For more information, contact Dr. Morton (Sam) Adams, chairman, madams@mail.nysed.gov.