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Monster-sized goldfish are taking over an Alberta city that now has to cull them by the thousands
National Post ^ | 09-27-2017 | Staff

Posted on 09/28/2017 7:01:51 AM PDT by Red Badger

Leah Kongsrude, St. Albert's environment director, says she's seen captured goldfish up to 30 centimetres in length, compared to ones sold by pet stores that measure only about two centimetres

ST. ALBERT, Alta. — Workers have dipped nets and a naturally occurring chemical into a storm water retention pond near Edmonton in a bid to kill thousands of unwanted goldfish that have made the water body home.

Officials say the aquatic invaders are the result of goldfish reproducing after people released their unwanted pets into the wild or flushed them down the toilet.

Leah Kongsrude, St. Albert’s environment director, says she’s seen captured goldfish up to 30 centimetres in length, compared to ones sold by pet stores that measure only about two centimetres.

Kongsrude says goldfish are hardy and can out-compete naturally occurring species for food.

Crews used nets on Tuesday to remove the reddish-gold swimmers and also applied the chemical, Rotenone, which is used to remove unwanted fish species from fresh water.

The pond will be checked later on to determine whether the cull was successful, and workers will also watch another nearby body of water to determine whether goldfish have taken up residence there.

Kongsrude said the city is lucky the fish are just in the pond and not in the Sturgeon River, which flows through St. Albert.

“We pumped this pond down and froze it right to the bottom in the winter and they were back in the spring. So they can live with very limited oxygen and low water temperatures.”

Officials are also reminding residents to not release any fish into any pond or body of water in Alberta — including flushing Goldie down the sewer.

(Excerpt) Read more at nationalpost.com ...


TOPICS: Agriculture; Outdoors; Pets/Animals; Society
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To: eastforker

Maybe there are subspecies in different regions of the country with different feeding behaviors, but here nobody would touch catfish other than poor people and most often black poor people. Trash fish just like carp, that’s what I always heard, until farm-raised catfish started entering the market.


61 posted on 09/28/2017 7:53:08 AM PDT by RegulatorCountry
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To: Yaelle
We made a pond in our yard years ago, and added those 50 cent tiny goldfish to it, and they did grow half a foot long. Those that made it. Lol.

They grow to their environment. Keep 'em in a small tank (where water gets dirty quicker), they won't get that big. Put 'em in a lake where water is plentiful so that the gunk won't stunt the goldfish's growth, then they keep on growing.

62 posted on 09/28/2017 7:53:25 AM PDT by al_c (LIBERAL - Laughable Iconsiderate Blaming Entitled Ranting Anti-christian Loudmouth)
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To: Red Badger
Officials say the aquatic invaders are the result of goldfish reproducing after people released their unwanted pets into the wild or flushed them down the toilet.

Why do people do this? Releasing pets into the wild is never a good idea. For another example, look at the python issue in Florida.

63 posted on 09/28/2017 7:54:45 AM PDT by al_c (LIBERAL - Laughable Iconsiderate Blaming Entitled Ranting Anti-christian Loudmouth)
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To: EQAndyBuzz

Great story.


64 posted on 09/28/2017 7:56:22 AM PDT by jonno (Having an opinion is not the same as having the answer...)
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To: robroys woman
It is my understanding that a lot of those “fish tank” fish will grow as big as their environment allows.

That's mostly due to water quality. Low quality stunts the growth. Fish never stop growing until they die. Kept in good water, a fish will continue to grow.

65 posted on 09/28/2017 7:57:26 AM PDT by al_c (LIBERAL - Laughable Iconsiderate Blaming Entitled Ranting Anti-christian Loudmouth)
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To: robroys woman

Goldfish (and all carp) release a hormone (I think it’s a progesterone) that in high concentrations acts as a growth inhibitor & birth control.

This is why goldfish in a 10 gallon tank will stay small, but if you take them and put them in a 100 gallon tank they will all of a sudden get huge and the best way to get goldfish to breed is to do lots of water changes.


66 posted on 09/28/2017 7:59:42 AM PDT by qam1 (There's been a huge party. All plates and the bottles are empty, all that's left is the bill to pay)
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To: RegulatorCountry

Personally I wouldn’t give a plug nickle for any farm raised catfish. Knowing how to clean a catfish, what to keep and what to throw away makes all the difference in the taste. never keep any of the belly flap beneath the rib cage and it is a must to fillet out the blood line down the middle of the fillet. When I do a fish fry using catfish, everyone is amazed at how good it is.


67 posted on 09/28/2017 8:00:34 AM PDT by eastforker (All in, I'm all Trump,what you got!)
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To: Red Badger
My wife would feed goldfish (feeders) to her Arrowana
One did not get eaten (mystery as to why) it grew and was about 4 inches long and started growing a huge tumor.
The fish lived about five years more, grew to about 10 inches and the tumor grew to about 5 inches in diameter on it's back over that time. She had it in a 50 gallon aquarium for the five years. She loves her ‘critters’.
I question her sanity.
68 posted on 09/28/2017 8:11:55 AM PDT by right way right (May we remain sober over mere men, for God really is our one and only true hope.)
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To: Red Badger

69 posted on 09/28/2017 8:13:20 AM PDT by Snickering Hound
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To: robroys woman

I think Ted Kennedy already tested the other part of that theory...

:)


70 posted on 09/28/2017 8:15:31 AM PDT by Kommodor (Terrorist, Journalist or Democrat? I can't tell the difference.)
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71 posted on 09/28/2017 8:17:46 AM PDT by Rio (Proud resident of the State of Jefferson)
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To: Red Badger
Tonight's Feature on Monster Chiller Horror Theater is The Giant Man-Eating Goldfish That Destroyed Edmonton.


72 posted on 09/28/2017 8:37:43 AM PDT by Buckeye McFrog
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To: JohnBrowdie
The old fisherman's trick of holding up the fish close to the camera.
How to tell the lie: Compare the size of the fingers with the size of the human's nostril.

73 posted on 09/28/2017 8:43:13 AM PDT by BitWielder1 (I'd rather have Unequal Wealth than Equal Poverty.)
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To: Red Badger

Sounds like the title of a Roger Corman movie.


74 posted on 09/28/2017 8:43:26 AM PDT by Seruzawa (TANSTAAFL!)
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To: Red Badger
Officials say the aquatic invaders are the result of goldfish reproducing after people released their unwanted pets into the wild or flushed them down the toilet.

Because toilets flow straight to the ocean. Wait! What? They don't?!? My toilet is about 50 feet from the rive but with regulations, it has to be pumped up hill, across the street, down the block, around the corner, across that street and into a tank on several lots I had to buy to be in compliance with the laws governing waste. No fish could survive that. I'm sure city sewer systems are even more hazardous to flushed pets.

75 posted on 09/28/2017 8:47:48 AM PDT by bgill (CDC site, "We don't know how people are infected with Ebola.")
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To: Red Badger

"When you feed a fish, never feed him a lot. So much and no more! Never more than a spot."

76 posted on 09/28/2017 8:49:02 AM PDT by GreenLanternCorps (Hi! I'm the Dread Pirate Roberts! (TM) Ask about franchise opportunities in your area.)
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To: Red Badger
Paging Kevin Kline...

77 posted on 09/28/2017 8:50:39 AM PDT by dfwgator
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To: robroys woman
So, how do they taste?

Depending on their environment, probably like carp. IIRC, they are a variety of carp.

78 posted on 09/28/2017 8:56:29 AM PDT by JimRed ( TERM LIMITS, NOW! Build the Wall Faster! TRUTH is the new HATE SPEECH.)
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To: Red Badger

This is from all of that nuclear testing they did in Edmonton.


79 posted on 09/28/2017 9:01:13 AM PDT by blueunicorn6 ("A crack shot and a good dancer")
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To: blueunicorn6
None of these have three eyes...................
80 posted on 09/28/2017 9:05:25 AM PDT by Red Badger (Road Rage lasts 5 minutes. Road Rash lasts 5 months!.....................)
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