The city of Burnsville, Minnesota is asking residents to stop discarding their goldfish in ponds and lakes because they “grow bigger than you think,” with one expert mentioning football-sized specimens. City officials recently conducted a survey of Keller Lake to “assess populations of invasive goldfish and other fish in the lake,” and their findings were a sight to behold.
Officials said large groups of goldfish in Keller Lake have become an issue in recent years, which could lead to poor water quality as they muck up sediment on the bottom and uproot plants. “Instead of releasing your pet goldfish in a local lake or pond, please consider other options for finding them a new home like asking a responsible friend or neighbor to care for it,” the city of Burnsville said in a Facebook post.
“You see goldfish in the store and they’re these small little fish,” Burnsville’s natural resources specialist Caleb Ashling told the Washington Post. “When you pull a goldfish about the size of a football out of the lake, it makes you wonder how this can even be the same type of animal. … Most people really care about their lakes and ponds, but you may be causing problems you weren’t aware of if you let them go there.”
Last year, about 500,000 goldfish were taken out of Big Woods Lake in Chaska, a suburb of Minneapolis, because of the dangers they pose to the ecosystem. According to the Kansas City Star, goldfish can live up to 25 years, reproduce rapidly, and survive through the freezing temperatures of a Minnesota winter, in addition to the impact on plants and sediments.
The act of discarding goldfish in a pond is considered “illegal fish stocking” and against the law in most states, Minnesota included.
