Snakehead sighting not first in Metro Vancouver

City staff is sealing off Central Park lagoon, where a snakehead fish was spotted Sunday afternoon. May 17, 2012. (CTV)

The B.C. Ministry of Environment says the sighting of a voracious snakehead fish in Metro Vancouver is a serious concern – particularly because it's not the first time the invasive species has been spotted.

The sharp-toothed fish filmed Sunday afternoon in Burnaby's Central Park lagoon caused immediate alarm for experts, who dealt with a similar reported sighting in the Fraser River just a few years ago.

That encounter couldn't be confirmed, but Matthias Herborg, aquatic invasive species coordinator for the Environment Ministry, said the prospect of the snakehead living in B.C. waters is a disturbing one.

"If there is more than one fish, it would be a big concern," Herborg said. "They could establish a population, start reproducing, and start preying on all sorts of our native fish that move around the Fraser. It would be really bad."

Another concern is the mystery of how the fish, which can grow up to three feet long and eat up anything it gets into its mouth, got into the pond in the first place.

The northern snakehead fish is usually found in eastern Asian countries, such as Russia, China and Korea. According the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans, it has a broad range of environmental tolerances, though, and can survive winters under the ice of northern lakes – including in North America.

A DFO risk assessment indicates that the fish has been found in the live food trade in the U.S., but is currently only imported into North America through British Columbia.

Ontario has banned live possession of the species over concerns about the snakehead entering Canadian natural waterways.

However, certain snakeheads can still be found live for sale in grocery stores, such as a T&T Supermarket in Vancouver – although staff refuse to sell them until they have been killed.

As for the fish that was spotted in Central Park lagoon, biologists are still trying to find it in order to determine its species and potential danger to the environment. City staff have already sealed off the pond and experts are planning to head out within the next couple of days.

If a snakehead is actually present, there are a number of ways to remove it from the water, such as netting, electro-fishing or even draining the pond, according to Herborg.