Snakehead Fish in Flushing Meadows
Monday August 1, 2005
NYC Park and state officials announced last week that they had caught four snakehead fish in Flushing Meadows' Meadow Lake (NY1). Considered a danger to local fish and wildlife, but a delicacy in Chinese and Korean cuisine, live snakehead fish were banned from New York State last year.
The snakehead fish achieved notoriety a couple years ago when a Maryland newspaper reported on these toothy fish breathing air and walking on dry land from lake to lake. Turns out the report and ensuing hype was a bit overblown. Snakehead fish can only survive for hours out of water, and can't walk, but wiggle a little.
So how did these snakeheads get to Flushing Meadows? Maybe they outgrew an aquarium, and the owner dumped them. I doubt they took the 7 from downtown Flushing.
Comments
the answer to how these fish got there is in your own description.
“…, but a delicacy in Chinese and Korean cuisine,”
Flushing’s population is DOMINANTLY Korean and Chinese. I have no doubt the fish were introduced to make them more readily available for dinner tables in the area.
However, these fish can kill most small animals in thier paths and have been proven to. They can also last as many as three days on land, not just a few hours.