Up, up, and away from our rivers; Fish elevator helps remove invasive species

The Conowingo Dam stretches across the Susquehanna River between Cecil and Harford Counties in northern Maryland. The giant structure acts as a gateway to many fish species spawning grounds upriver, but the doors aren't open for everyone.

A Fish Lift installed at the dam works as water filled elevator, transporting migratory fish up and over the concrete behemoth. It also makes filtering out invasive species literally as easy as catching fish in a barrel.

Maryland Department of Natural Resources

Once a school of fish is trapped in the lift, experts screen it for unwanted travelers, then pluck them out by hand. During the 2024 season, which ran from March to June, they removed more than 18,000 pounds of invasive fish. That includes 2,106 northern snakehead, 746 flathead catfish, and 36 blue catfish.

None of those fish were wasted, with most of them sent to seafood wholesaler J.J. McDonnell and Co. Inc. including a portion they distributed to local food banks in Cecil County.

Maryland Department of Natural Resources

The Department of Natural Resources also kept a few to teach people about the threat of invasive species. With voracious appetites and few natural predators, snakeheads and flathead catfish have decimated native fish populations. The number of snakeheads removed at the dam this year was more than double the amount removed since the program began in 2021.

Maryland Department of Natural Resources

The DNR urges anglers to harvest these species when they catch them and report catches in new areas using this Invasive Species Tracker form on their website.