A commercial waterman caught the 14 1/2 -inch, 1-pound fish near Fort Belvoir, in the same eight-mile stretch where the other snakeheads were caught. A Maryland Department of Natural Resources biologist confirmed that it was a female northern snakehead and was about 2 years old. A multiagency effort is under way to determine if the fish has established itself here.
The snakehead, a voracious predator native to China that can use its fins to move on land, can survive year-round in Maryland. Anglers who catch the fish should kill it with a blow to the head, put it on ice and notify authorities.
