The Marina Operators Association of America organized a tournament on Friday to hunt down that evil invasive species, the Northern Snakehead, the voracious creature and Chinese delicacy that can eat through and destroy any eco-system. The tournament focused on the area of the Potomac River near National Airport and another near Alexandria. WJLA reports that although some snakeheads were spotted, no angler was able to reel one in.

How did the snakeheads make their way to the Chesapeake Bay watershed?

In Asia, snakeheads, freshly killed and cooked, are said to have extraordinary healing powers; for this reason, they are transported, while still alive, by boat, plane, truck, and bicycle, to fish markets in Asian neighborhoods on the East Coast, despite the fact that they are illegal in thirteen states (though not in New York). This is how they reached Maryland: a man purchased a pair in Chinatown, smuggled them south, nourished them well, then, alarmed by their burgeoning appetite and size, dumped them into a pond behind a Dunkin’ Donuts. (From the New Yorker)

While state officials in Maryland were able to drain or poison ponds to get rid of the snakeheads, you can’t exactly do that to the Potomac. DCist likes to note that snakesheads can walk out of water. Does that mean that snakeheads will soon crawl out of the Tidal Basin and terrorize tourists at the Jefferson Memorial?