African Fish In Ontario?!

[LegitFish]

Whats with all the fish appearing in Ontario?

 

Tilapia found in the Grand River...

 

http://news.therecord.com/article/735782

[bassman87]

I've caught them in a stocked pond at Gatorland in Florida. Pretty good fight imo

[12 Volt Man]

I have caught them in Florida too.

 

that fish was probably from a supermarket. they are available live all the time.

 

I am an avid aquarium enthusiast, and I have never seen that species of tilapia for sale at any of the shops in the GTA ever.

 

other species of tilapia yes, but not that one. they aren't really popular in the hobby because other species of tilapia are much more colourful.

Edited June 28, 2010 by 12 Volt Man

[BillsTheBassMan]

Just another case of some donkey releasing fish in his home water and hoping they'll breed because he personally likes to eat them. Pretty frustrating.

[fishing n autograph]

You can get a lot of rare species....a friend of mine who had fish had an endangered species of Arawana

[12 Volt Man]

^

absolutely. its possible that the fish was ordered in by an aquarium hobbyist, but much more likely he came from a supermarket where someone tried to 'rescue' the poor fish..some people are like that. they go into the supermarket and 'feel bad' for the trout and tilapia in the live tanks and think they have to save them..and the fish ends up in a river or lake somewhere. doomed to die in our cold canadian waters.

[Gerritt]

Tilapia Charters available in Dunnville! get free camping with every booking!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

.....ok I am joking here..

 

If it is not bad enough the Grand River watershed is in the state it is in... what is another invasive species?

 

Hopefully this is a one of... but I doubt that to be the case.

 

G.

[12 Volt Man]

not to worry. they stock tilapia in parts of florida to help control hydrilla weed and in the lake near my families ex holiday home near tampa, they had hundreds of fish die from the cold winter they had two years ago.

 

if a cold mid latitude florida winter canl kill them, they don't stand a chance in ours

[timmeh]

if a cold mid latitude florida winter canl kill them, they don't stand a chance in ours

 

The problem is that they do infact stand a chance! Not to form a large population and take over the river or anything like that, but it's possible they could survive overwinter here.

 

The reason for this is sewage treatment plant discharge. The discharged water is significantly warmer than rest of the river in water. A couple winters ago I worked on a project looking at the effects of STP discharge in the local rivers and often in the middle of winter the water temp will be between 6-9 degrees immediately downstream of the discharge pipe. That would be high enough to allow a small population to overwinter in the area.

[12 Volt Man]

small world. I am a wastewater treatment plant operator

[uglyfish]

The problem is that they do infact stand a chance! Not to form a large population and take over the river or anything like that, but it's possible they could survive overwinter here.

 

The reason for this is sewage treatment plant discharge. The discharged water is significantly warmer than rest of the river in water. A couple winters ago I worked on a project looking at the effects of STP discharge in the local rivers and often in the middle of winter the water temp will be between 6-9 degrees immediately downstream of the discharge pipe. That would be high enough to allow a small population to overwinter in the area.

 

exactly!! fish will adapt to survive their environment! some will die off yes, but others will survive. we have had several pirahnas in our waters and they always said they'll die in the winter... but when i;ve seen 3 caught in the welland canal, and one through the ice out there... yea... they dont always die!