Southern Ontario goldfish invasion

[Kelly_Aquatics]

I live near waterloo and up until recently the ponds and rivers near by have been prime fishing spots and a easy source of duckweed and hornwart for aquariums but within the past year someone has released gold fish into a local drainage pond and the drainage ponds here all connect. so at one of my favourite carp and catfish spots I found a bubbling churning wall of thousands of baby goldfish eating their way inwards through duckweed eating several inches an hour. this is so damaging to native fish and wild life and hits to close to home for me as a fish keeper and fishermen I feel that if proper fish care was as well known as caring for a dog or cat this issue would not have happend no doubt it was some one who got a pet gold fish from the fair which is a terrible idea would you sell live puppys or cats as prizes? some of them dont even make it home with people and end up in a garbage can left to die
due to people ignorance and lack of understanding this is becoming a huge problem and in the near future I have nio doubt goldfish will be banned like snake heads where and ruin a huge part iof the hobby because of people who dont understand how cool and fascinating fish keeping can be Im sure their are some people on here who feel the same way also the town is not doing anything

Has anyone else had issues with gold fish? let me know I will try to upload videos and or pics

 

[jjohnwm]

I grew up in SW Ontario, and back in the late 70's/early 80's the wonderful wetland at Point Pelee National Park was infested with goldfish as well. They were big guys, in the 12+ inch range, although I'm certain there were plenty of smaller ones as well. We caught them frequently while fishing, both from canoes and even sometimes directly from the Marsh Boardwalk which winds its way through the marsh that dominates much of the park's area.

Over the years that I lived there I visited the park frequently and it seems that at some point these nasty invasives vanished, or at least had their numbers drastically reduced. I visited the park a couple years ago while in that part of the world...I'm a birder and Point Pelee is a world-class birding destination...and I wasn't able to find a single goldfish while in the marsh. Hopefully your new infestation will be controlled in some similar way.

 

[tlindsey]

I live near waterloo and up until recently the ponds and rivers near by have been prime fishing spots and a easy source of duckweed and hornwart for aquariums but within the past year someone has released gold fish into a local drainage pond and the drainage ponds here all connect. so at one of my favourite carp and catfish spots I found a bubbling churning wall of thousands of baby goldfish eating their way inwards through duckweed eating several inches an hour. this is so damaging to native fish and wild life and hits to close to home for me as a fish keeper and fishermen I feel that if proper fish care was as well known as caring for a dog or cat this issue would not have happend no doubt it was some one who got a pet gold fish from the fair which is a terrible idea would you sell live puppys or cats as prizes? some of them dont even make it home with people and end up in a garbage can left to die
due to people ignorance and lack of understanding this is becoming a huge problem and in the near future I have nio doubt goldfish will be banned like snake heads where and ruin a huge part iof the hobby because of people who dont understand how cool and fascinating fish keeping can be Im sure their are some people on here who feel the same way also the town is not doing anything

Has anyone else had issues with gold fish? let me know I will try to upload videos and or pics

invasive Asian Carp lake Erie here near me. When I was a teenager found a natural pond with Goldfish of all sizes in it. Caught and took a few home.

 

[Kelly_Aquatics]

I find it hard to believe it will go away due to the sheer numbers I just hope they dont invade further as this pond is connected to the nith river which is conected to he grand which is connected to the great lakes I know im paranoid but still

I grew up in SW Ontario, and back in the late 70's/early 80's the wonderful wetland at Point Pelee National Park was infested with goldfish as well. They were big guys, in the 12+ inch range, although I'm certain there were plenty of smaller ones as well. We caught them frequently while fishing, both from canoes and even sometimes directly from the Marsh Boardwalk which winds its way through the marsh that dominates much of the park's area.

Over the years that I lived there I visited the park frequently and it seems that at some point these nasty invasives vanished, or at least had their numbers drastically reduced. I visited the park a couple years ago while in that part of the world...I'm a birder and Point Pelee is a world-class birding destination...and I wasn't able to find a single goldfish while in the marsh. Hopefully your new infestation will be controlled in some similar way.

 

[Hendre]

Given that carp are already naturalised just about anywhere I would not be shocked if this is brushed over. I recall somewhere in Australia they have a disease on trial that will inhibit carps reproductive abilities, looking forward to what that may be able to change in future

 

[Kelly_Aquatics]

Hendre these are deffinetly from the pet industry as some still have the gold coloring and I know it will probaly brush over like you said but still it makes me mad that ignorant people would rather dump their fish in near by pond than learn proper fish care

 

[Hendre]

Hendre these are deffinetly from the pet industry as some still have the gold coloring and I know it will probaly brush over like you said but still it makes me mad that ignorant people would rather dump their fish in near by pond than learn proper fish care

There have been cases of it elsewhere in the world, and yes, it is infuriating that people do this

 

[jjohnwm]

For sure the problem won't just go away on its own, but if the bodies of water are connected to the general watershed then the damage has been done. Those goldfish are in the system; the Pelee marshes are directly connected to Lake Erie, so it's not as though this will be a fresh new invader, just an additional influx of an already established one.

I was going to comment that the MNR might have take some steps to eliminate the goldfish from Pelee, since they are no longer in evidence there...but then I realized that the goldies I saw there decades ago were part of the original introduction, since they were still bright orange. The fact that I didn't see any there on my last visit is likely due to the fact that the current wild-bred fish have reverted to their natural colouration and no longer stick out like traffic pylons the way the original ones did.

The Great Lakes already have plenty of aquatic invasives: fish, inverts and plants. Humans have not quite managed to destroy the local ecosystem...yet...but it's still early...

 

[Kelly_Aquatics]

jjohnwm I agree I just think all of this could have been avoided if general fish care was somthing everyone knows like care for a dog or cats
and if you dont know how to take care of one dont get one it should be that simple but people treat goldfish as a decoration and not a animal and when they find out how much work they are dump them in the nearest lake pond or river

 

[Hendre]

jjohnwm I agree I just think all of this could have been avoided if general fish care was somthing everyone knows like care for a dog or cats
and if you dont know how to take care of one dont get one it should be that simple but people treat goldfish as a decoration and not a animal and when they find out how much work they are dump them in the nearest lake pond or river

Unfortunately that is the state of things, as hobbyists our job is to keep fish responsibly. Fish care will probably remain niche due to the inherent complexity vs most mammals