"New York Man Charged With Importing Banned Fish From China"

"A New York man who admitted smuggling nearly 4,000 live Chinese snakehead fish, which pose a danger to fish native to U.S. waters, was arrested on criminal charges, prosecutors said on Thursday.

The snakehead - a delicacy in Chinese and Korean cuisine - has been banned in New York since 2004 because it is considered a danger to local fish and wildlife. Snakeheads are air-breathing fish and can travel short distances over land to find a suitable habitat.

Yong Hao Wu, 43, the owner of the Brooklyn-based Howei Trading Inc., was accused of arranging a shipment of 353 live fish in tanks which arrived from Macau by air on February 13, falsely labeled as a legal species of fish, said the Queens District Attorney's Office."

Bernd Debusmann Jr. reports for Reuters April 29, 2011.

SEE ALSO:

"A Delicacy on Chinatown Plates, but a Killer in Water" (New York Times)