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TOURNAMENT FISHERMAN TURNS IN FOURTH SNAKEHEAD
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[font "Arial"]Richmond, VA — Officials with the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (VDGIF) learned Monday that a fourth snakehead fish was caught in the Potomac River watershed on Saturday, May 15, 2004. Today, it was confirmed that the fish was caught in the vicinity of Mason Neck National Wildlife Refuge. Earlier reports incorrectly identified the location as the Occoquan Bay area.[/font]

[font "Arial, Helvetica"]The angler was participating in a bass fishing tournament that launched from Smallwood State Park in Maryland. He turned the fish over to Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) staff, who confirmed that the fish was a northern snakehead. No pictures have been made available at this time. The fish, estimated at about 13 inches in length, is similar in size to the two most recent snakehead fish found.[/font]

[font "Arial, Helvetica"]VDGIF Director Bill Woodfin has set up a Snakehead Fish Incident Management Team to deal with issues related to the recent findings. The team is comprised of fisheries, wildlife diversity, law enforcement, and public information personnel. VDGIF Fisheries Division Director Gary Martel has contacted both Maryland and District of Columbia Fisheries Directors requesting a meeting to coordinate efforts in addressing concerns about snakehead fish.[/font]

[font "Arial, Helvetica"]Saturday’s fish is the third northern snakehead caught in the Potomac River watershed in little more than a week, the fourth in less than a month. The first snakehead fish was caught in a pond in Wheaton, Maryland on April 26. The second snakehead fish – the first one confirmed in Virginia waters -- was caught on Friday, May 7, in Little Hunting Creek, a tributary of the Potomac. The third snakehead was caught by a fisherman at the boat ramp for Marshall Hall, an historic mansion near the Prince George's County line in Maryland, across the river from Little Hunting Creek. That one was reeled in on Wednesday, May 12. With a fourth fish caught in the Mason Neck National Wildlife Refuge area three days later, what first appeared as isolated incidents are raising concern among wildlife officials.[/font]

[font "Arial, Helvetica"]The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries is asking anglers to go to its Web site at [url "http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/"][#0000ff]www.dgif.virginia.gov[/#0000ff][/url] to view a fact sheet with a photograph of a snakehead fish and illustrations of similar looking native species, the bowfin and American eel. Any anglers who think they may have caught a snakehead fish are asked NOT to release it, but to contact the VDGIF at 804-367-1258. [/font]
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