More than 25,000 giant snakehead fry have been removed from Sun Moon Lake (日月潭) this year, marking a more than 30-fold annual increase from last year, the Nantou County Government said on Friday.
The county government has stepped up its effort to capture the invasive carnivorous fish species as its peak breeding season begins from this month.
The catch per unit effort ranged from 3,000 to more than 5,000 fry, it said, adding that a total of 4,808 giant snakehead fry were removed from the lake this week.
Photo courtesy of the Nantou County Government
While only slightly more than 800 fry were captured last year, this year’s catch via electrofishing has rapidly climbed to a cumulative total of 25,717 fry as of Friday, the county government said.
That is an annual increase of more than 30-fold from last year, it said, adding the annual total catch is projected to surpass 30,000 fry this year.
The giant snakehead, also locally known as “the bully of the lake,” came into the public eye in Taiwan about 20 years ago.
The fish species began to proliferate in Sun Moon Lake around 2020, requiring the county to conduct electrofishing removal in the summer of every year.
It is a carnivorous freshwater fish that hunts almost all kinds of aquatic life, including frogs, snakes, turtles and waterbirds.
A red devil cichlid — an invasive fish species commonly known as “the king of demons” in Taiwan for its aggressiveness — was found bitten when it was caught by a local angler at the lake on Thursday.
The angler, who has a Facebook page called “Sun Moon Lake No. 1” (日月潭一等高), posted a photo of the red devil cichlid showing that the bite left on its upper body was shaped like the mouth of a giant snakehead.
“Look who is the real underwater big boss of Sun Moon Lake,” he said.
“The bully of the lake can be so ferocious that it bit the king of demons even during Ghost Month,” the angler said, referring to this month of the lunar calendar.
Giant snakeheads can turn cannibal when their population grows too big in a single habitat.
While the giant snakehead’s breeding season could run through October, the county government said its removal effort might be coming to an end this year due to limited budgets.
The county government would provide guidance for local fishermen on how to capture giant snakehead fry balls, it said.
Fry balls are giant snakehead fry and juvenile fish merging into red-orange “balls” as they rise to the water surface to breathe or hunt small fry or shrimp.
Such fry balls have been nicknamed “death bubbles” by locals and have become a local specialty dish at restaurants around the lake, adding to local fishermen’s income.
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