A vicious snakehead fish, said to swim around Central Park lagoon in Burnaby, was able to escape its hunters Wednesday afternoon.
Armed with seine nets and an electroshock device to stun the fish, staff from the B.C. Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations and the City of Burnaby sifted through the water where the snakehead had been reported sighted.
However, they were only able to capture other animals, such as goldfish, carp and bullheads as well as bullfrog tadpoles.
According to a press release, experts visually surveyed a second large pond in the park and the outflow stream from both bodies of water. However, they could not detect any snakeheads in there either.
The ministry said that the results of the search indicate "that there is not a large population of this species in the pond." Staff will now be working on a plan for follow-up surveys in the next couple of weeks.
After the first possible sighting of the invasive fish on Mother's Day, news of the snakehead's potential presence in the Burnaby pond has been keeping experts and the public on alert.
"I think it's eating the ducklings," Bruce Causier, the second person to catch the fish on camera, told CTV News earlier this week.
He was particularly concerned about the possibility of the fish entering nearby Fraser River through one of the pipes leading out from the lagoon. Park staff sealed off the pond last week to minimize the risk, but failed to cover a lure with two pipes, according to Causier.
For now, though, it seems like residents will have to remain patient.
"No final decisions have been made yet," ministry spokesperson Suntanu Dalal told ctvbc.ca.
Originating from Asia, the snakehead is considered an invasive species in North America, where it has no natural predators. With its sharp teeth, it can ravage entire ecosystems, eating small animals, including ducklings and birds. It can also survive days on land where it wriggles its way across small distances.
Though illegal to sell live in parts of Canada, the snakehead can still be found in some B.C. supermarkets – something the province is now considering putting a stop to with a local ban.
