Found answer to where all (or most) of the bowfished Snakeheads end up...

[VuDism]

Well, the MD and Virginia regulations are still correct. If you take a snakehead, you have to immediately kill it. So hopefully adamant snakehead fishers like yourself can help solve the problem.

If you CALL DNR and ask... They will tell you it is "OK to release them back in the same water it was caught".

Don't know why they won't update their website with same info...

If I ever catch a snakehead... If it is big enough, I'll surely take it home and eat it. (I have yet to catch one)
Last weekend I thought I had landed a nice snakehead but it ended up being a 18" largemouth bass... It swollowed my 6" senko and got gut hooked. I freed it but the guy wouldn't swim ... So I scooped him back up and took it home.

[clm]

What should someone do if they think they've found a snakehead fish?
Before going fishing, anglers should familiarize themselves with the fish species found in Virginia. There are several native species including bowfin, lamprey, and American eel that look similar to the northern snakehead. For more information and assistance with learning the identifying differences between snakehead fish and native species, please see our "Do You Know The Difference?" information page. Any unusual fish needs to be reported to the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. We have established a snakehead hotline that anglers can use to report snakehead fish (804-367-2925). Anglers are not required to report snakeheads nor are they required to kill them if caught, but the Department asks that the fish be reported and killed if possible. However, if an angler wishes to keep a legally caught northern snakehead, the fish must be killed to be in possession, and the angler must call the hotline and report the angler's last name, date of catch, location of catch and size. Kill the fish by:

removing the head,
separating the gill arches from the body, or
removing the internal organs and put it on ice as quickly as possible.

Virginia DNR....

[Frogsauce]

Well, MD DNR still has some sense then.

[VuDism]

Well, MD DNR still has some sense then.

Call MD DNR and they will tell u "OK to release in same water it was caught"... It is no longer required to kill... Only if you plan on taking home you have to kill

[Frogsauce]

There's still good reason why all these states are classifying them as invasive, a risk to local ecosystems, and encouraging people to kill them if not requiring it. You could argue that snakehead is OK if there wasn't the mass numbers of biologists warning against it.

[reel-em-in]

Quote from the DNR website:

What can you do? If you catch a northern snakehead, kill it and DO NOT put it back in the water. If the snakehead has a tag, measure the length, make note of the exact location of capture, and call the toll free number printed on the tag. Information that you provide is important in determining control and management strategies.

http://dnr2.maryland.gov/fisheries/Pages/snakehead.aspx

Well, MD DNR still has some sense then.

Quote from 2014 Maryland Fishing Regulations: "It is against Maryland, Virginia, and federal laws to possess, import, or transport
live Northern Snakehead. If you catch a snakehead and want to keep it, you must immediately kill the fish by removing its head, gutting it or removing its gill arches." This suggests that if you don't want to keep it you can release it. You must just do so immediately without transporting it anywhere.

[Romo]

No one can FORCE you to kill a fish that's just silly talk. Snakeheads tend to stir up a lot of emotions in people. I would ask why you trust "biologists" in the first place? Aren't these the same ones managing, oh I dunno, the totally collapsing striped bass and blue claw stocks? Menhaden? Herring? Their "science" has done a lot of good there.

[Frogsauce]

I interpreted that different from the fishing regulations book. But if that's the case, then I can only hope the guys targeting the snakeheads would continue to do so and in large numbers. It's like the people who opposed the deer kill law in TN back when they were overrunning the farms. Great for the hunters because they were so abundant, but terrible for the farmers because of the damage to the corn fields. If you only want to see the good side of it, then your only going to look for the good. Not the long term effect.

[Frogsauce]

No one can FORCE you to kill a fish that's just silly talk. Snakeheads tend to stir up a lot of emotions in people. I would ask why you trust "biologists" in the first place? Aren't these the same ones managing, oh I dunno, the totally collapsing striped bass and blue claw stocks? Menhaden? Herring? Their "science" has done a lot of good there.

Rockfish was almost gone at one point. Those "biologists" made a terrific program that brought them well back into numbers. At one point they were not even fishable.

[Memory Maker]

Well, I suppose all people disagree on some points. But I've got damn near every fish and wildlife organization in the country backing the invasive argument for snake head. All that takes is a little good search.

........ And soon you will see that change too .......... studies have shown that they have not harmed the bass population ....... they are some of the best eating fish and they are agressive and fight hard .......... I actually like the snakehead better than the bass .......... I think you will find others do to. Right now you hear a bunch of people going to Mattawomen to fish for snakeheads ....... and will settle for some bass. Don't hear many saying they are going for bass and settle for snakehead.

As far as the DNR .......... most of the time they are overactive and wrong. Their so called study of zebra mussels brought a ban of boats on Liberty and Prettyboy and private boats on Loch Raven for almost 10 years .......... that was over 20 years ago and their have been less than 10 zebra mussels found and the boats on those waters are electric and aren't used where zebra mussels are found .............. they denied for years that Liberty didn't have a spawning population of stripers even though anglers were telling them about fingerlings being caught .......... and then they said the snakehead walks on land .... eats everything in sight and is no good for anything except to take over and drive out other species when that is not true ......... not even in the far east.

I would LOVE to see the bow fisherman and the snakehead regulated. It's here to stay ....... enjoy !!!!!

[Frogsauce]

All I'm saying is, it's great that you enjoy catching them and they are tasty. But look outside your own personal gain for a while and try to see what the long term damage might be. Then make a decision for yourself. It's hard to be unselfish when your doing something you love. Ask the 1990s blue crab population. Or the 1980s striped bass population. Fisheries damn near wiped them out. DNR to the rescue.

[Memory Maker]

Rockfish was almost gone at one point. Those "biologists" made a terrific program that brought them well back into numbers. At one point they were not even fishable.

REALLY ???????? ......... it was their mismanagement that brought the numbers down ......... Agnes wiping out the grass beds on the Flats did a number on the spawning but you could still keep 9" stripers ......... they didn't attempt to regulate them until it was too late and only a total ban on catching was imposed ......... even then I think you still had a commerical fishery.

The only thing they did was to put a ban on catching after letting the numbers fall too far. Same thing that will probably happen again within the next decade but they are doing a decent job of regulating them.

The commercial industry for them has to go ........ they need to be made a gamefish.

[buzz]

every fish you catch except rockfish and perch is an invasive species..

This is not true.
There is a difference between "invasive" and "introduced".

I would ask why you trust "biologists" in the first place? Aren't these the same ones managing, oh I dunno, the totally collapsing striped bass and blue claw stocks? Menhaden? Herring? Their "science" has done a lot of good there.

So you maintain that Joe Fisherman knows more than the fisheries biologists? Come on...

So I tracked down a phone number for the Fisheries Division of the DNR and called to find out exactly what is the official word.

I spoke with Don Cosden. He assured me that the DNR has not given up on eradicating the Northern Snakehead from our waters. He told me initially the notices stated that it was required to kill these fish. However, they were pressed to back down. They would prefer that every northern snakehead caught was killed immediately. Legally though, they cannot require people to kill a fish unless they give them a way to opt-out.

The law:
The US Fish & Wildlife Service has labeled the northern snakehead as "injurious wildlife" under the Federal Lacey Act, which makes it illegal in the U.S. to import, export, or transport between States without a permit. So if DNR or VA Fish & Game catch you with a live snakehead, you can be fined for transporting.

The Opt-out:
If you can't bring yourself to kill a fish, or you just don't want to help DNR in its efforts to over-fish the snakehead... then you can immediately release your snakehead right where you caught it.

[Frogsauce]

Well MM, agree to disagree on the DNR track record. They did much more than just ban fishing them. I believe they did right by the other species, and I'll take their word (and the rest of the east coasts word) for the snakehead too.

[VuDism]

I was just thinking...

$14.00 per pound is a bit expensive for an "invasive" fish no?
I would think if you wanted to "rid" of them so badly shouldn't it be cheap ?