"A Predator on Par with a Shark"

A bit dramatic, perhaps. But that's how some experts are describing the blue catfish.

The blue catfish, introduced 30 years ago as a game fish in the James River, has risen to the top of the food chain, Virginia experts say.

"We have an invasive species that is taking over the ecosystem," Rob Latour, a marine biologist with the Virginia Institute of Marine Science at the College of William and Mary, told the Newport News Daily Press. "It's a predator on par with a shark."

Blue catfish have grown explosively in population and size in the past few years while many commercial species are becoming rare, Bob Greenlee, a biologist with the state Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, told the Daily Press.

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