# Frankenfish in the Great Lakes?



## Hamilton Reef (Jan 20, 2000)

Well, I'm not totally surprised, but it may be a matter of time. I asked to be updated to this article if it is a positive ID for the frankenfish.


Angler's find may be dreaded snakehead

Matt Philbin may have caught the Frankenfish. 
While fishing at Burnham Harbor on Saturday, the 32-year-old remodeling contractor from Tinley Park netted what appears to be a northern snakehead, noted for its ferocious feeding habits. 

Biologists with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources intend to pick the fish up for identification today.

http://www.suntimes.com/output/outdoors/cst-nws-fish14.html


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## Buddy Lee (Dec 17, 2003)

How much longer will it be before those bighead carp get in the great lakes too?


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## Hamilton Reef (Jan 20, 2000)

The USACE will be starting work on the larger electrical carp barrier next week. Time may tell if it was installed too late because of the political funding fights it took to get back the money sent to Iraq.


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## Hamilton Reef (Jan 20, 2000)

Feds kick in $6.8 million to keep out Asian carp 
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-carp14.html#


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## mallardtone-man (Nov 20, 2002)

ohh boy!

Cant wait to see our fisheries go to hell! Like the Gobys and Comarants arent doing enough.


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## Hamilton Reef (Jan 20, 2000)

Experts fear 'Frankenfish' has terrorized harbor

On Thursday, the Illinois Natural Resources Department confirmed that a 17-inch fish caught Saturday was a snakehead, a feared Frankenfish known to eat native fish and compete with them for food. The department believes the fish caught by a Tinley Park man is a northern variety that can survive Chicago winters, but is asking the Field for help.

http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-fish15.html


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## snakebit67 (Oct 18, 2003)

hears another story on the same thing




CHICAGO (Reuters) - The dreaded Northern Snakehead, a voracious predator dubbed the "Frankenfish" that can breathe out of water and wriggle across land, has invaded the Great Lakes, authorities said on Friday. 


Reuters Photo 


AFP 
Slideshow: 'Frankenfish' Caught in Great Lakes 




Scientists with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources identified the 18-inch-long (46-cm-long), sharp-toothed fish netted over the weekend in a harbor near Chicago's downtown by a fisherman, who put it in his freezer and posted a photograph of the creature on the Internet. 


A native of China, the Northern Snakehead was first discovered in 2002 breeding in East Coast ponds -- one of which was poisoned and another drained -- and has since been spotted in the Potomac River in Virginia, in Florida and in other places -- but not, until now, in the Great Lakes. 


"These things are voracious feeders. They're a very aggressive fish," said Mike Conlin of the Department of Natural Resources. "We hope it's a stray, dumped there by somebody who got tired of feeding it." 


Teams will use electric cables in the harbor to shock fish to the surface to look for more of the species, which can survive the cold Midwest winter and eats other fish, frogs and even birds and mammals. If it breeds, it could devour game fish and devastate the lakes' multibillion-dollar fishing industry. 


The Great Lakes, the world's largest body of fresh water, has long been plagued by invasive species, with the latest being the Zebra Mussel, the Round Goby and the Sea Lamprey. 


Earlier this week, authorities announced plans to erect an electrified, underwater barrier in the waterway connecting Lake Michigan to the Mississippi River watershed to try to stave off the northerly advance of the Asian Carp, a huge fish that gobbles up vital phytoplankton. The carp, which escaped flooded fish farms along the Mississippi, is within 50 miles of Lake Michigan. 


Alarmed Asian Carp have been known to leap from the water and knock out people in boats. 


The electrified barrier will be adjacent to one erected a few years ago, designed to keep the Round Goby from migrating from Lake Michigan into the Mississippi River watershed, but the effort came too late


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## Hamilton Reef (Jan 20, 2000)

Nebraska offers cash for invasive snakehead

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) -- The state Game and Parks Commission's fisheries division is looking to buy back snakehead fish in the state and is willing to pay $50 for a more than two-foot long specimen.

The state wants to ban the invasive, carnivorous fish. The commission also wants Nebraskans in possession of the fish to hand them over for a price by Jan. 1, 2006. The going rates would be $10 for a less than one foot fish, $25 for a 12-inch to 24-inch fish and $50 for those longer than two feet.

http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/art...regional/14684bc0bded32ab86256f2f0013c292.txt


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## Hamilton Reef (Jan 20, 2000)

Frankenfish going on display at Field Museum 

http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-fish02.html
November 2, 2004, BY ANDREW HERRMANN Staff Reporter

Step right up, ladies and gentlemen: Behold the dreaded Frankenfish. 

The Field Museum will put the monster -- a northern snakehead discovered in Burnham Harbor last month -- on display this weekend. 

With a face only a mother fish could love, the 15-pound, 40-inchlong foreign creature is considered dangerous to Lake Michigan as it has the capacity to swallow up many native species, piranha-like. 

It was snagged by a Tinley Park man, and officials hope it is a loner, abandoned by an aquarium afficionado after it grew too big for its tank. 

Part of permanent collection 

Native to Asian waters, snakeheads also sometimes find their way to the United States -- illegally -- as "healing'' food for the sick. The fish are marked by protruding lower jaws with caninelike teeth. 

Field Museum fish biologist Phil Willink helped identify the creature and searched Burnham Harbor for others. None turned up but the discovery of the species drew wide attention. 

The preserved fish is now part of the Field Museum's permanent collection. 

Willink will lecture on its capture Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m to 2 p.m. at the Stanley Field Hall in the museum at 1400 S. Lake Shore Dr.


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## Hamilton Reef (Jan 20, 2000)

Common name: Northern Snakehead
http://www.invasivespecies.gov/profiles/snakehead.shtml

Sliced Snakehead Fish and Watercress Soup
Ingredients:
1 pound watercress
1 pound sliced snakehead fish
1 small piece dried tangerine peel, rinsed
1 slice old ginger
3 cups water

Marinade for fish:
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon light soy sauce
dash of pepper
1/2 teaspoon oil

Seasoning:
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon light soy sauce

Instructions:
1. Trim off the roots of the watercress. Pluck the leaves
from the stems. Use only the leafy parts.

2. Rinse the slices of fish very quickly in cold water, drain thoroughly and marinate for 5 minutes.

3. Bring 3 cups of water to a boil. Put in the ginger, tangerine peel and watercress leaves.

4. Cover the pot and boil for 15 minutes over medim heat.
Bring the heat to low, add seasoning, and simmer for 10 minutes. Bring the heat to high. 

5. Include the marinated fish and stir briskly. Check seasoning and serve immediately.


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