Catch a snakehead in the Chesapeake Bay? You might be eligible for money

If you’re headed out on the Chesapeake Bay for Memorial Day Weekend, you could win some cash – depending on watch you catch.

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is asking fishers and anglers to keep an eye out for northern snakeheads.

It’s a species native to Asia and Russia and known for its ability to stay alive, even when its out of the water.

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Northern snakeheads, however, are now an invasive species in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed and the Blackwater River on the Eastern Shore.

As scientists work to learn more about the northern snakehead population in Maryland, DNR and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are launching a tagging program.

DNR crews are in the process of tagging up to 500 northern snakehead fish with blue and yellow tags.

The goal is to learn more about the size of the snakehead population and where they migrate.

They’re asking anglers who reel these tagged fish in to take a picture and report the catch back to DNR.

“It has a telephone number on it as well as a tag number on it,” said Eric Wilson, with DNR’s Fishing and Boating Services. “They are very, very visible. As soon as you catch the fish you'll be able to see it.”

Those who report and harvest a tagged fish will be eligible for a $10 or $200 gift card.

“You’re not only putting money in your pocket, your taking out an invasive species,” said Wilson.

The program is funded through a federal grant, according to DNR.

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“There are snakeheads that have actually been reported already if you can believe it,” said Wilson.

DNR recommends anglers harvest these northern snakeheads, even if there’s no plans to eat it for dinner.

“It is illegal to have them in your possession alive,” said Wilson. “We ask all of our anglers to harvest [snakeheads] immediately. If you’re not comfortable with doing that, you are permitted to release it back to where it was caught.”

Wilson tells FOX45 News the DNR team is hopeful the tagging program will engage Marylanders of all ages.

“It turns it into a game, and really, I hope it generates interest in understanding what an invasive species is,” said Wilson.

The northern snakehead tagging program will be ongoing from now until 2024.