Goldfish Round-Up
Nov 1, 2018 | Caitlin Pawlett, Experiential Learning Project Leader
First-year Environmental Technician - Protection and Compliance students took part in a goldfish round up this fall in Canadore’s stormwater discharge pond.
Environmental faculty members discovered a large population of goldfish living in the campus stormwater discharge pond late this summer. As these goldfish are a highly invasive species, faculty coordinated with the expertise from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) staff Kim Tremblay and Allison Bannister, on methods to eradicate the fish from the pond as an experiential learning activity for the first-year Ecology course. The MNRF staff educated students about electrofishing whereby a wand is submerged in the water and a small current is delivered to temporarily stun the fish, long enough to net them using a seine net and collect them for relocating. Students assisted in using the netting and measuring of the goldfish.
Steph Romaniuk said “It was a great opportunity to build partnerships in the community and give students more skills and experience to take with them after graduation. I have never seen these two methods demonstrated in the field in my 20-year varied career in the environmental sector”.
By the end of the day, it was estimated that over 60 goldfish were collected, however, there may still be more fish in the pond and further population monitoring will continue.
