In its native Asia, the snakehead fish is considered to be an important
food fish and for this reason they have been exported to many other regions around the world. They were first introduced to
Japan from mainland Asia in the early 1900s, where they have since become a
sport fish. The
USSR experimented with aquaculture of snakeheads during the mid 20th century in both
Europe and
Central Asia. In the
United States, snakeheads were only cultured in
Arkansas, but have managed to establish populations there and several states in the
Mid-Atlantic.
Japan Snakeheads of Korean stock were first introduced to Japan in the 1920s, and since then have spread to about every suitable body of water on the Japanese mainland.
Europe During the Cold War, the USSR imported several different species of fish from eastern Eurasia into Europe for new prospects in aquaculture. Among these fish was the northern snakehead, which came from the Amur River basin and were stocked in various ponds of the Moscow region starting in 1949. These initial experiments were successful and it was recommended that snakehead be stocked into various other waterbodies. However, only one shipment to Czechoslovakia was ever made in 1955, and nothing else after. The snakehead was also introduced to the
Volga Delta and various ponds in
Yekaterinburg, but are presumed to have failed due to no reports since then. While the snakeheads were reported to have been breeding in Moscow in the 1950s, they have since disappeared. There are no known populations in Europe in this moment.
Central Asia The snakehead has managed to establish themselves in the countries of Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, all of which used to be part of the former Soviet Union. More specifically, they are known to be in the
Amu Darya,
Syr Darya, and
Kashka-Darya since the 1960s due to both accidental and intentional releases. Since then, snakeheads have also been introduced to the
Sarysu River,
Talas River, and
Chu River. They have become an important commercial fish in the region, with around 10 metric tons being harvested from just the
Talas in 1989.
United States The fish first appeared in U.S. news when an alert fisherman discovered one in a
Crofton,
Maryland, pond in the summer of 2002. The northern snakehead was considered a threat to the
Chesapeake Bay watershed, and wary officials took action by draining the pond in an attempt to destroy the species. The action was successful, and two adults and over 100 juvenile fish were found and destroyed. A man admitted having released two adults, which he had purchased from a
New York City market, into the pond. When the northern snakehead was found in Crofton, the
piscicide rotenone was added to the three adjacent ponds. In 2004, 19 northern snakeheads were captured in the
Potomac River, and they were later confirmed to have become established (i.e., they were breeding). They are somewhat limited to that stretch of the river and its local
tributaries, upstream by the
Great Falls and downstream by the
salinity of the Chesapeake Bay. Northern snakeheads continue to be caught in the river as of 2022. The northern snakehead has been found in three
counties of
Florida, and may already be established there. Apparently unestablished specimens have been found in
Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in
New York City, two ponds in
Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, On 1 June 2013, Caleb Newton, a resident of
Spotsylvania County,
Virginia, caught a northern snakehead from the junction of
Aquia Creek and the Potomac River, beating the previous world record of caught in 2004, in
Miki,
Kagawa Prefecture,
Japan. In late 2013, authorities in Maryland and Virginia were counting snakeheads in the Chesapeake Bay to better understand the impact of the introduction of the fish to the local
ecosystem. The Commonwealth of Virginia has criminalized the "introduc[tion]" of snakeheads into the state without specific authorization, although the relevant
statute does not explain whether mere importation is sufficient to constitute "introduc[tion] into the Commonwealth" or whether instead release into the environment is required. On May 20, 2014, Luis Aragon of
Triangle, Virginia, caught a northern snakehead, which was officially listed as the biggest ever caught on rod and reel, according to the
International Game Fish Association. On the night of May 24, 2018, Andrew "Andy" Fox of
Mechanicsville, Maryland, shot a northern snakehead with a bow and arrow, which was officially listed as the biggest ever shot according to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. The record-breaking northern snakehead weighed , with a length of . The snakehead was shot in
Mattawoman Creek in
Charles County, Maryland, near Indian Head. In October 2019, a number of northern snakeheads were found in a pond on private property in
Gwinnett County,
Georgia. In August 2021, a snakehead weighing was caught in a
reservoir in
Canton, Massachusetts. In 2024 a snakehead was confirmed at the
Duck Creek Conservation Area in southeast
Missouri. In August 2025 multiple snakehead have been caught in the
Crosswicks Creek,
New Egypt, New Jersey with a live sample being confirmed by the
NJ DEP. A new concern is that this fish's spreading is getting close to the
Great Lakes, which it may enter and disrupt that ecosystem.
Canada In 2012, a suspected northern snakehead was found in a pond in
Burnaby,
British Columbia, but further study revealed that it had been released three months or less before its capture and that it was a
blotched snakehead or perhaps a
hybrid involving that species. Before its exact identity was revealed, the
government of British Columbia introduced legislation banning the possession of snakeheads and several other potentially invasive species. However, unlike the northern snakehead, which could establish a population in parts of
Canada, the blotched snakehead generally lives only in warmer waters than those found in Canada. ==World record==