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Friends find foreign fish in local water

created: 8/21/2007 5:52:11 PM
Last updated: 8/21/2007 6:10:15 PM
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Courtesy of the South Carolina Dept. of Natural Resources


This pacu was caught at Cherry Creek Reservoir.

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Friends find foreign fish in local water. 9NEWS at 4 p.m. 08/21/07
LITTLETON - When Ky Peterson and his friends went fishing this past
Saturday at Chatfield Reservoir, they were hoping to reel in a few
nice catfish, instead they ended up with something that looked more
like a piranha.

"It's not something you expect to see," said Peterson.

The fish his friend caught was a Pacu. It's native to South America
and has teeth similar to a piranha.

"I don't like to see it because I know what they can do to the
fisheries," said Peterson of their foreign find.

Tyler Baskfield with the Colorado Division of Wildlife says fish that
don't belong in our local waters typically come from people's
aquariums.

"They [fish] grow out of the aquarium and they put them in our
reservoirs," he said.

Wildlife officials say they have no way of knowing how many invasive
fish are swimming in our local waters, but they do know they can pose
more of a threat to other fish than humans.

"I don't think it's a safety issue as far as people are concerned, but
it's a safety issue when it comes to the environment," said Baskfield.
The Division of Wildlife says if anyone catches a fish that doesn't
belong, don't throw it back, get rid of it.

It is illegal to introduce foreign species into the water.