By Sahira Memon
Elusive species of fish captured in Burnaby’s Central Park
After a 27-day-hunt, members of the B.C. community were successful in capturing what National Geographic calls “Fishzilla” from the Burnaby Central Park lower pond. The snakehead fish is invasive and highly predatory, which increased the urgency to remove it from the pond. SFU was well-represented in the hunt, with biology graduate student volunteers working with the City of Burnaby crews, ministry department members, and the city parks department. The fish was euthanized and will be taken to SFU for further study.
The snakehead was first spotted a few weeks ago, causing a stir in the Metro Vancouver community, and becoming the subject of several YouTube videos.
The snakehead is a species of fish native to Africa and Asia, where it is prized as a delicacy, but in B.C., they are imported and used in aquariums, or sold as food in markets such as T&T — a practice that has been disputed due to the predatory nature of the fish if released into the wild. The importation of snakeheads in the United States is banned, something that minister of environment Terry Lake wants to emulate in B.C.
The snakehead is astonishingly fertile and can lay up to 150,000 eggs a year. This incredible rate of reproduction allows them to take over many small bodies of water.
They are also known for their hardiness, and are able to survive up to four days without water. They are known to sometimes migrate up to a quarter-mile on wet land, and they accomplish this by wriggling their body and fins.
The first attempt to capture the snakehead occurred a couple of weeks ago when word reached city officials. This attempt failed, which prompted harsher measures that included draining the 100-metre wide pond until it was only 30 centimetres deep. The fish was then spotted by a biologist, who scooped it up with a net.
The snakehead was euthanized soon after it’s capture, as well as most other exotic fish found in that pond, to avoid the potential spread of diseases transmitted by the snakehead to other fish.
“I’m glad they caught it. People want exotic pets, but they are invasive. This cross-proliferation happens before we’re aware of it,” said bystander Gerry Klein to The Province.
The fish will be taken to SFU, where it will be examined to confirm how long it’s been in the pond and what it has been eating.
SFU grad student Corey Phillis commended the resident who alerted the authorities to the risk. “It’s good to have someone out there that knew what they were looking at and knew of the dangers of having that fish potentially becoming established in our local waterway,” he told the CBC.
After the examination, SFU biologists will carefully preserve the carcass and send it to the Royal Museum of British Columbia, where it will be stored as a part of their collections.
