There’s An Invasive Blue Catfish Species In The Chesapeake Bay
on Jan 10, 2020 • Updated Jan 15, 2025
If you like to fish, it can be strange to think that there could ever be too many fish. Sadly, this is exactly the problem that’s happening in the Chesapeake Bay.
@VIMS_News study shows #invasive blue #catfish can tolerate high salinities, indicates potential for further expansion in #Chesapeake and into #DelawareBay: https://t.co/74UCTidBQb pic.twitter.com/EedL00TksM
— Virginia Institute of Marine Science (@VIMS_News) November 5, 2019
A species of blue catfish has begun to tolerate different levels of salinity than it could previously, allowing the population to expand much further downstream than ecologists originally thought possible.
Stop the decline in Chesapeake rockfish (stripers). Anglers should angle for invasive blue catfish and snakeheads instead. https://t.co/Dm4vJiqM3U @baltimoresun @ssdance @chesapeakebay pic.twitter.com/rezLPla4Jo
— Dan Rodricks, Baltimore Sun, News Guild (@DanRodricks) May 1, 2019
Blue catfish can disrupt the ecosystem when their population grows out of control, and this can create problems for area animal and plant life.
https://www.facebook.com/prfcfish/posts/2612798332115451?__xts__%5B0%5D=68.ARANW1KEpiuR3r0eCtRsipmXYQ4-3rbbeNtfuPWRFll23wQppFk6_XRAnOysVBHhr0lYC1saGo3s9dYNg2pe3yKwIHvNirxPUKFUmFy-jn-eJPsCu7SM5xcRHxUREDg7F0G3KfAJKBf8bwMm9XRAgUGS6J7lwp6i-1uIDfeuW-DBi2-xYyqmsgu-zm9TUUDN0J8FK3nPrBRoSB0cZg32tyc2roCoAJd9IrJJkhIFdsGdnekA-XD5_X1gQBpEnrlG9k5EFjZvzg8_o2EHV7MUUdu84tay0S6mEp5p4_9UL6Xc_y2VrrO6qknVGT2_hCMBxAOwX4pNlGRNptdPUqZwv1wUL11Q&__tn__=-R
Mary Fabrizio of William & Mary’s School of Marine Science at VIMS told Chesapeake Bay Magazine, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Proactive prevention and early removal of blue catfish from these new habitats is likely to be an effective approach to minimizing their negative impacts.”
Learn more about the invasive species in the video below.
