Can you eat snakehead?

Interest has been picking up lately in the invasive fish species the northern snakehead (Channa Argus). This has led to many people wondering if you can eat snakehead. The short answer is yes, northern snakehead is an excellent fish to eat. In fact, they originally ended up in that Crofton, Maryland pond because they were brought here for eating. This is a little surprising to some people, since they’re not exactly the nicest looking fish in the river. Creating a market for snakehead meat is probably one of the best ways to combat the spread of the species at this point.

Snakehead meat is firm, white and flaky. This allows the fish to be prepared in many different ways. It holds up well to pan frying, grilling, and oven preparation. The Washington Post even did a taste test article a while back and they reported that snakehead fish and chips were more popular than traditional fish and chips made with cod. You can read their whole taste test result HERE.

Blackened snakehead is delicious and one of our favorite ways to prepare the fish. Another great option is frying your snakehead. Check out our Delicious Fried Snakehead Recipe.

A Word of Caution on Fish Consumption

As with any wild fish, you should limit the amount of snakehead you consume regularly. Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) can build up in the layer of fat right below the skin of a fish. You can reduce the amount of PCBs in your fish through proper cleaning and cooking methods. Try to follow these guidelines when preparing your snakehead:

• Get rid of all the skin
• Slice off as much fat as possible, especially around the belly flap and lateral line
• Cook your fish on a rack in the oven or on a grill. This allows more of the fat to drip out of the fish.

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Mercury can also be present in fish. However, instead of building up in the fat, mercury is present in the actual fish muscle. There’s no way to reduce the mercury level through cooking or cleaning. Your best bet is to limit your consumption of fish species that tend to be high in mercury. Mercury bioaccumulates in fish. This means that the top level predators have the highest levels because they absorb all the mercury present in the smaller fish they eat.

A good rule of thumb to remember is that larger/older fish typically have more contaminants in them. Sticking to younger, smaller fish is usually the way to go. It’s also generally a good idea to stay away from fatty fish such as channel catfish and carp.

The Virginia Department of Health posts Fish Consumption Advisories for fish species in all of the bodies of water spread throughout the state. They create these advisories by using data collected by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality. They do not currently publish advisories for eating snakehead because snakehead is still not listed as an official game fish. However, you can get a feel for how many are safe to eat by looking at the other fish species advisories in your local river. You can view the current fish consumption advisories for Virginia at the Department’s official website HERE. Below is a quick reference map they publish, but there is a lot more info on their site.

If you want to give snakehead and chips, blackened snakehead, or any other recipes a try; check out our list for the most effective snakehead fishing lures HERE so you can catch your own. We’ve been catching and eating snakehead since they first arrived in the Potomac River basin. You can see our favorite recipe for blackened snakehead fillets HERE. Other popular ways of preparing snakehead include Italian dressing marinade, frying, and cedar plank grilling. So yes, you can eat snakehead; just don’t make them the next staple of your everyday diet. Fishing for northern snakehead has become extremely popular due to their voracious strikes and the strong fights they put up. Snakehead fishing is a great way to help protect our native fish species while having fun at the same time!