Harvest of Northern Snakehead with Bowfishing in Maryland

Illegal introductions in North America have helped establish populations of Northern Snakehead (Channa argus), an invasive freshwater fish from Asia. Once targeted for eradication, widespread establishment of populations in the Chesapeake Bay watershed has now led management to prioritize mitigation. One method of mitigation has been harvesting via bowfishing. We measured the influence of bowfishing in the snakehead fishery between 2022 and 2024. Ten charter boat captains who operated bowfishing trips across 17 rivers in 2024 provided 556 trip reports for snakehead trips (March to November) that represented an average of four bowfishing clients (range = 1 client to 12 clients) who fished an average of 4.8 hours (standard error = 0.05) per evening trip (high ebb to slightly beyond low tide). Harvest ranged between 0 fish and 32 fish per river-trip, with an average median of 10 fish (standard error = 2.7). Harvest was greatest in spring and fall (3.5°C < air temperature < 17°C) and full or new moons. Bowfishing and gigging accounted for the majority of annual fishing mortality, which was 19.1% in 2023 and 20.0% in 2024. This was lower than the target of 25% to achieve population declines. Our results highlight both the value of bowfishing and the need to encourage bowfishing as means of harvesting snakeheads in ecosystems.