Goldfish the size of dinner plates are multiplying in Alberta ponds
After discovering goldfish the size of dinner plates in ponds and canals, the government of Alberta, Canada, has a message for residents: Stop flushing your fish down the toilet.
"It's quite surprising how large we're finding them and the sheer number," Kate Wilson, aquatic invasive species coordinator at Alberta Environment and Parks, told CBC News. In Wood Buffalo, 40 goldfish were pulled from a storm water pond, she added, which is "really scary because it means they're reproducing in the wild, they are getting quite large, and they are surviving the winters that far north."
The government is launching a new campaign called Don't Let It Loose, which will target people shopping at pet stores, aquarium supply stores, and Asian markets that sell live fish, letting them know they should never dispose of live — or dead — fish by flushing them or dumping them in ponds. Wilson said about one-third of invasive species that are threatening Alberta's native aquatic environments are from aquariums, and the government wants to get to the bottom of the problem. "Something weird is happening," she said. "It could be a group of people from somewhere else who are used to fishing for these kind of species which intentionally introduced them, which is highly illegal."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
'Fixer of Trump's problems has become one of them'
Today's Newspapers A roundup of the headlines from the US front pages
By The Week Staff Published
-
Pros and cons of oat milk
Pros and cons Oat has emerged as the king of Britain's plant-based milks, but how does it stack up against the alternatives?
By Rebecca Messina, The Week UK Published
-
What happens if TikTok is banned?
Today's Big Question Many are fearful that TikTok's demise could decimate the content creator community
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Puffed rice and yoga: inside the collapsed tunnel where Indian workers await rescue
Speed Read Workers trapped in collapsed tunnel are suffering from dysentery and anxiety over their rescue
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
More than 2,000 dead following massive earthquake in Morocco
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Mexico's next president will almost certainly be its 1st female president
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
North Korea's Kim to visit Putin in eastern Russia to discuss arms sales for Ukraine war, U.S. says
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Gabon's military leader sworn in following coup in latest African uprising
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstances
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governor
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published