Staff from the provincial forestry and environment ministries are at Burnaby's Central Park today, searching for the snakehead fish reportedly spotted in one of the park's ponds.
The so-called "frankenfish" has been caught on film recently by two local residents.
Snakeheads are considered voracious predators that can wreak havoc in an ecosystem when introduced to non-native environments. They feed on fish and frogs and the occasional small mammal. They can breathe atmospheric air and wriggle on land, surviving for days out of water, provided it's wet. Snakeheads can be sold as pets or food, so it's likely someone dumped the fish in Central Park. There are two main ponds in the park, and the snakehead has been spotted at the lower pond, closest to the pitch and putt near Imperial Drive.
On Wednesday, at roughly 2:20 p.m., ministry staff were in hip-waders, dragging a net across the water in the lower pond, but the snakehead was nowhere to be found. They were also using electrofishing, a method of introducing a light electrical charge to the water, stunning the fish but not killing them. The fish then float to the surface. The goal is to figure out if any snakeheads are in the park, and if so, how many and whether they are in other parts of the watershed.
"Whatever is in there, we want to know. They are experts, and they can identify things we can't," said Dave Ellenwood, the City of Burnaby's director of parks, recreation and cultural services. "All I know is it looks like a fish," he added, laughing.
The provincial government also put a barrier up at creek connected to the pond to prevent any snakehead fish from travelling to other bodies of water.
