3,000 Reasons Not To Dump Unwanted
Goldfish Into A Lake
Who would have thought
that a few tiny yellow fish could cause so much trouble? Well, when they are a
hearty invasive species like goldfish, the trouble spreads like wildfire.
Wildlife officials in
Colorado believe that someone dumped five unwanted goldfish into a Boulder lake
about two years ago, and the population has since exploded to more than 3,000.
Because the goldfish are
invasive, non-native species, they are wreaking havoc on the entire aquatic
ecosystem. Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) spokeswoman Jennifer Churchill explains:
“Dumping your pets into a
lake could bring diseases to native animals and plants as well as out-compete
them for resources. Everything can be affected. Non-native species can
potentially wipe out the fishery as we’ve put it together.”
The invasive goldfish are
threatening native species of fish such as channel catfish, blue gill fish, and
sunfish, and brainstorming is underway as the state looks to remove the goldfish.
Currently, options include
either draining the lake and collecting the goldfish, or something called
“electroshocking.” Churchill says that both methods could be employed to remove the fish, and neither would kill
any fish.
“With electroshocking, you
go in the boat and stun the fish to paralyze and collect them. The fish could
also be collected if the lake is drained.”
Once collected, the fish
will be sent to a raptor rehabilitation center to be used as food. While some
residents have expressed an interest in keeping some of the
fish as pets, Churchill does not think
it is such a good idea.
“I’m going to talk to
Boulder County, who owns the lake to see what they think, but I don’t want to
send the message that collecting fish for personal fun is okay”
CPW officials are asking
anyone with information about who might have released the goldfish to come
forward, and want to remind the public that releasing invasive species into the
ecosystem is never a good idea.
About Lottie Richard:
Lottie Richard holds a BA
in History and is currently working towards her graduate degree. She's been
described as a bleeding heart liberal and a crunchy granola, and also as
"oddly passionate" about a wide variety of topics. Lottie lives in
the northeast with her husband, three-year-old daughter, and 6 pets: 3 dogs and
3 cats. In her free time she enjoys listening to jam bands and reggae music,
and exploring the wilderness. Click here to buy Lottie a much-needed margarita!
Photo courtesy of Invading Species
Awareness Program
We all know the
story of Chicken Little and how the sky was falling; this is a classic fable of
being overly paranoid over much to due about nothing. Whenever someone that
knows very little about fish or Ichthyology for that matter and then writes
about assumptions of a species of fish what it will do or will not do, example:
Such as being invasive and will disrupt the ecosystem of a particular body of
water. Then we have a person wearing the emperors’ new clothes.
I thought I
would give some insight into this story that is now making its rounds on Google
Blogs and how the information given to the public can become distorted and
nonfactual information. This is done so some can rule (put into law) to others
into believing that the sword of Damocles is over their heads if invasive
action isn’t taken immediately to rectify a problem.
The author
apparently does not know the difference from the colors Yellow and Orange.
Yellow Goldfish are an uncommon color in Goldfish and are seldom seen. (Genus
Carassius Nilson / Carassius auratus [How to say: Kar-a´-shus: derived from the
name Karass of Gesner & the word au-ra´-tus: auratus = overlaid with
gold] is the correct way of saying the name in Latin.
Though this may
be a trivial fact to some, it does give the ambiguity that if you can’t get
this simple fact right: What makes anyone think the rest of the article has any
merit or the correct information in it and is trustworthy?
The next line
that Goldfish/carp are none native to North America and can become “invasive”
is not altogether true. If given the right circumstances any fish can become
invasive species and Goldfish are no exception to this rule. However, the
Goldfishes’ colors of Bright Orange and White is not quite the best
camouflaging colors for other predatorily species of fish not to notice as a
foodsource. If the ecosystem is in unison with foodstuff and animal life, then
the Goldfish will not become the invasive or dominating species of fish and will
not upset the balancing act of the ecological habitat of the other species or
animal life in that ecosystem. If this were true and they were that invasive,
then our entire waterways would be flooded with these carp because they are
native to North America but just not in this domesticated form of coloration
that they are so well known in the hobby. They are usually Silver or Green in
color and may have a very light tinge of Orange on their tails.
Also, it is not
well know that the Comet Goldfishes country of origin is the good old USA and
came from the common goldfish and was bred by the U.S. Government Fish
Commission in Washington, D.C.. As time goes on the bright Orange coloring of
these carp will leave the fish through interbreeding and they will revert back
to their ancestral origins once again if left to become undomesticated just
like Koi (Koi means carp in Japan.) will.
The article also
makes mentioned that the five Goldfish were dumped in the Boulder Colorado
Lake by no less than hobbyist two years ago. WOW! That is amazing that the
Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) spokeswoman Jennifer Churchill knows this
exactly. I mean how does she know it was just five and not six or seven
Goldfish? I also wonder how she knows it was a persons pet Goldfish that did
this and not some waterfowl or animal migrating from one lake to another carrying eggs of the fish from a pond, lake or stream? If they can predict this with
such accurate numbers, then why not the numbers in the Lottery?
Quote: “The
invasive goldfish are threatening native species of fish such as channel
catfish, blue gill fish, and sunfish…” Now this is the biggest joke of them
all. Okay, Channel catfish will eat anything that will fit into their cavum
oris. Does anyone know how big a Channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) can get?
I will leave that one up to you Internet surfers to find out. We are talking
about a fish that can reach a monstrous 58 lbs or bigger here!
Then we have the
next species of fish in question that are known as the carps “ birth control
pill” of fishes, from the Centrarchidae family, which are the Sunfishes and
Basses. Any of the Lepomis Sunfishes will devour the eggs of Goldfish like
caviar. The fact is if the foodstuffs are in plentiful supply then the
Sunfishes and Basses will definitely dominate the waterways very quickly. It is
not unusual for anglers here to go fishing in small lakes a pull up 75-100
Lepomis in one sitting (Because I have done just that!) and you wouldn’t see
one Goldfish or carp insight. And with all the ponds we have full of Goldfish
and Koi around here it is highly unlikely that these invasive Koi and/or
Goldfish at one time or another were not introduced into these waterways.
When the
ecosystem of a lake or pond is in unanimity with all species and the
predominating game fish are those mentioned above; then Goldfish will not have
a chance to disrupt that ecosystem because they will be at the bottom of the
food chain and they now become other species “resources” instead of the so
called invasive species as the article makes them out to be. It’s called
continued existence of the most aggressive species and Goldfish are
nonaggressive. That’s why they are used as feeder fish because of their
convivial nature.
Goldfish go back
1,350 years now to the T’ang dynasty (618-907 A.D.) in China and they haven’t “out-competed”
the native species in that country yet; so why do we think they would in ours?
That’s because we Americans have over fished our lakes and ponds to death and
do not place a cap on native species like the Lepomis. So when a Goldfish gets
into our lakes and ponds without competition, guess what…they win native
species lose.
There are many
different types of Goldfish and some will grow bigger than others. The common
feeder Goldfish for example is a smaller variety and was bread for the reason
of feeding predatory species of fish. The Goldfish that most hobbyists keep in
tanks and ponds are of this smaller variety that the US is known for. The
common carp is of a bigger variety but this is not a fish kept by hobbyist. So
yes, goldfish do have limitations on their size because of genetic interbreeding. In order to become bigger carp they must be interbred with Cyprinus
carpio and not Carassius auratus or Carassius auratus auratus. You also have
subspecies like Carassius auratus argenteaphthalmus, buergeri, gibelio,
grandoculis, and langsdorfii.
Lets also not
forget that these fish are the earliest known fish to be domesticated as pets.
They were also the fist to be kept by hobbyist in Victorian times in the US in
Aquariums and ponds and is the most commonly kept of all aquarium fish today.
More Goldfish are sold each year in the USA than any other species of fish.
It is also a
know fact that fish that live in warmer climates like Hawaii or Florida will
grow faster and bigger than in colder climates. Some of the biggest Bass caught
on record in the US are from southern states and not the colder northern
states.
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