Maryland officials have revised a ban on snakeheads.
Regulations that were scheduled to take effect later this month would have outlawed all 29 varieties of the fish, but the Department of Natural Resources said last week that it will ban only the northern snakehead.
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Full Snakehead Coverage
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The decision means residents will be able to keep tropical varieties as pets.
The DNR's director of fisheries, Howard King, said tropical varieties of the snakehead are not a threat to area waterways because they cannot survive the region's cold winters. Northern snakeheads were found in a Crofton pond two years ago and in a Wheaton pond this spring. In the past several months nearly 20 of the northern variety have been caught in the Potomac River and its tributaries.
The northern snakehead is an Asian import that preys on other species, can breathe air and survives for up to three days on land.
