Kristen Villebrun and Wendy Bush hoped they wouldn't have to pray for Chedoke Creek, but four years after they first raised alarm about the water's condition, they were part of an Indigenous full moon ceremony to do just that. About 50 people showed up near Princess Point on the dark and frigid Monday evening for the monthly ceremony, which was particularly special as it focused on Chedoke Creek. The body of water that runs into Cootes Paradise had about 24 billion litres of sewage and storm water runoff leak into it due to a gate being left open.
Exploding goldfish populations that can successfully survive the winter are wreaking havoc on native fish species across the country, in suburban storm water ponds, in lakes and other waterways. Researchers in B.C. recently warned the invasive fish is moving in schools the size of football fields and spreading from Vancouver to other parts of B.C.
An environmental conservation group says goldfish, a provincially-designated invasive species, are now thriving in a popular pond in Kelowna, B.C. Lisa Scott, executive director of the Okanagan and Similkameen Invasive Species Society based in Summerland, B.C., says local residents have spotted glints of gold under the ice at Munson Pond, an ecological area, with endangered status, located south of downtown Kelowna.
Nicholas Mandrak, a professor at the University of Toronto who has spent much of his career studying invasive fish species in Canada, says impacts on water systems vary by species. Prussian carp, like goldfish and common carp, will uproot vegetation in order to find food. When that happens, the fish kill vegetation that may act as nutrient sinks in sewage lagoons or drinking water ponds.
