Invasive, toothy northern snakehead caught by angler in marshy, Mid-Hudson waterway

WURTSBORO, N.Y. — The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is investigating the prevalence of northern snakehead, a toothy, invasive fish species native to Southeast Asia, in a Sullivan County waterway after one was recently caught there by a fisherman.

On Aug. 16, Cody Reynolds, submitted a photo to the DEC of a snakehead he said he caught in the Bashakill Marsh near Wurtsboro. The Bashakill lies in the valley between the Shawangunk Mountains and the Catskills, flowing south from about Summitville to join the Neversink River below the wetlands, and on to the Delaware River.

After examining the photo and determining it was a snakehead, DEC immediately posted signs at access sites on the marsh asking anglers to report the sighting or capture of northern snakeheads. In addition, DEC Fisheries staff conducted an electrofishing survey to assess the extent of the invasion. DEC did not find additional northern snakehead, but the Bashakill is heavily vegetated this…