How can the spread of Asian swamp eels be prevented?

The USGS focus is to document the eel’s geographic distribution and to learn as much as possible about its behavior and biology . The resulting information is considered critical in helping to develop strategies aimed at containing or controlling its spread. Meanwhile, catching and transporting Asian swamp eels for use as bait, food, or aquarium pets is highly discouraged.

The USGS documents the zebra mussel's geographic distribution and studies its behavior and biology. The resulting information is critical in helping to develop strategies aimed at containing and controlling the mussel's spread. Meanwhile, catching and transporting zebra mussels for use as bait, food, and aquarium pets is highly discouraged. We also encourage good boat hygiene: Wash your boat off...

Preventing the spread of the invasive brown treesnake (Boiga irregularis) is paramount. Without rigorous prevention, control (let alone removal) of an introduced reptile species is extremely difficult. In the case of the brown treesnake, prevention efforts include working to detect stowaway snakes before they leave the island, as well as extreme vigilance on islands where the snakes are most...

The odds of eradicating an introduced population of reptiles once it has spread across a large area is very low – pointing to the importance of prevention, early detection, and rapid response. With the Burmese python now distributed across more than a thousand square miles of southern Florida, including all of Everglades National Park and across the southern coast to Rookery Bay National Estuarine...

Eradicating an established population of invasive carp would be extremely difficult and expensive, if possible at all. Potential control methods include the use of fish poisons, physical barriers, physical removal, habitat alteration, or the addition of predators, parasites, or pathogens. Research on invasive carp control is ongoing and documents on the subject are provided through the Invasive...

An invasive species is an introduced, nonnative organism (disease, parasite, plant, or animal) that begins to spread or expand its range from the site of its original introduction and that has the potential to cause harm to the environment, the economy, or to human health. A few well-known examples include the unintentional introduction of the West Nile virus, chestnut blight, the South American...