An alert to anglers by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC) regarding two species of fish that are non-native to the lower Delaware River basin was released Thursday/
Freshwater Drum and Blue Catfish are being detected in increasing numbers within these waters, officials said.
Anglers with suspected captures of Freshwater Drum or Blue Catfish in the Delaware River or its tributaries are encouraged to harvest these fish, take photos, and report their captures to the PFBC’s online aquatic invasive species reporting form to the PFBC website.
PFBC biologists have documented that Freshwater Drum has been captured in the tidal Delaware River and also upstream in the vicinity of Upper Black Eddy, which is non-tidal. Freshwater Drum was also collected in the lower Schuylkill River in Philadelphia, said state fishing authorities.
Blue Catfish have been collected in the vicinity of the Commadore Barry Bridge in the lower Delaware River.
Freshwater Drum is the only member of a mainly saltwater family of fish that inhabits freshwater in North America. Adults typically weigh between five and 15 pounds.
Blue Catfish are large, heavy bodied fish which are the largest members of the catfish family in North America and are capable of attaining weights of over 100 pounds, although most larger adults are in the 30-pound range.
“Documentation of expansion of both non-native Freshwater Drum and Blue Catfish is of potential major concern for fisheries and natural resources in the Delaware River and its tributaries as these are considered invasive species with potential major ecological impacts,” said Sean Hartzell, PFBC Aquatic Invasive Species Coordinator. “Where introduced elsewhere, such as the Chesapeake Bay, invasive Blue Catfish have impacted economically important commercial and sport fisheries. The potential impacts of introduced Freshwater Drum are less well-known, but this species is considered a threat to native freshwater mussels in the Delaware River basin due to its feeding preferences on hard-bodied invertebrates,” officials said.