Experts consider poisoning snakehead pond

May be best method for killing harmful fish, panel says

ANNAPOLIS, Maryland (CNN) -- Wholesale poison in a Maryland pond may prove the best way to purge an exotic fish from China deemed dangerous to local varieties.

The northern snakehead fish is a meat-eater capable of living in a moist, out-of-water area for as long as three days. The species can also slowly propel itself on land with its tail fins, giving rise to the nickname "walking fish."

There is an Asian cultural belief the northern snakehead has curative powers.

Police tracking how the fish came to a pond in the town of Crofton found a man who said he dumped a pair of the fish after buying them at a market in New York. Authorities believe a fish captured was one of the original pair, which have successfully reproduced during their time in the pond.

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Crofton is about halfway between Washington, D.C., and the state capital, Annapolis.

Snakeheads have reportedly been found in six other states: Hawaii, Florida, California, Maine, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Their proliferation prompted the secretary of the Department of the Interior to declare Tuesday that the fish should be classified as "injurious wildlife." (Full story)

Experts working on a strategy to prevent the fish from reproducing and spreading beyond the Maryland pond are developing a draft proposal Tuesday to be sent to the head of the state's Department of Natural Resources.

The panel hopes to issue a recommendation by Friday, officials have told CNN.

One proposal is to use the poison rotenone, a commercially available product that breaks down quickly in the environment. But before any such application, DNR officials said they would first use herbicides to clear vegetation around the nine-acre pond.

Once such hiding places are removed, an official said, technicians would probably release the poison into the pond from a small, powered boat. The boat's propeller would churn the waters and disperse the chemical.