Issue link: https://bluemagazine.uberflip.com/i/25248
IN FRONT:: Possibly the strangest environmental story of 2002 belongs to the snakehead fish. Dubbed Frankenfish, this nonnative, razor-toothed Asian species showed up in a Maryland pond in last July. Maybe some aquarium owner dumped it. Maybe some food importer decided to set one free. Either way, Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton went on record saying "these fish are like something from a bad horror movie, they eat virtu- ally any small animal in their path. They can travel across land and live out of water for at least three days. They reproduce quickly." She wasn't kidding. Snakeheads guard their young ferociously. There are reports from Asia of the fish, which can grow up to three feet long, attacking and occasionally killing people who approached a mass of their young. For a few weeks of summer the Maryland interloper made great headlines-then faded from sight. In an effort to eliminate the potential threat, in August the US Fish and Wildlife Service poisoned the pond with rotenone, an all-purpose pesticide, and killed everything in the water. Officials imagined this would end the problem. But by September, because people now knew what to look for, snakeheads had been found in waterways across the country-where they have no natural predators. The fish pose a serious threat to native species. And while this may not be your typical fi sh story, it only scratches the invasive-species surface. Invasive, non-native, alien, exotic, or non indigenous introduced species are those that have evolved elsewhere and then been purposely or accidentally relocated. Some have invaded on their own, but human exploration, coloni zation and trade haven't helped matters. in their new habitat, introduced species often find no natural enemies and consequently spread easily and quickly. The US Fish and Wildlife Service estimates that invasive species take a toll on the American economy to the tune of $138 billion a year. Non-native pike are decimating Alaskan sa lmon populations. Zebra mussels, transported to the US in ballast water by international shipping, have invaded the Eastern seaboard, blocking industrial and municipal water intakes. In Guam, the brown tree snake, a native of New Guinea, has eliminated a dozen species of native songbirds and counting. And that's just a few from the fauna list. When it comes to plants, invasive species account for 65 percent of total weed flora in the US, and make up anywhere from 8 to 47 percent of total flora. The US Department of Agriculture estimates the annu- al productivity loss of crops from invasive plants is $7.4 billion. On rangelands, invasives crowd out fauna for- age sources, erode soil, and poison wild life and livestoc k. In natural areas, non-natives reduce habitat for native, especially endangered, species, degrade riparian ·areas, create fire hazards, and interfere with recreational activities. And while we can try our best and fight the good fight, the door's already open. Invasives aren't going away. Unless we close up shop and seal the county's points of entry, as a by-product of global inter- connectedness, they're here to stay.- Steven Kotler 22