Invasive chain pickerel outnumber native fish at Kejimkujik National Park

An invasive species of fish has taken over the waterways at Kejimkujik National Park, sparking concern it could spread further and severely impact Nova Scotia’s fish stocks.

The lakes and rivers at the park used to be teeming with mostly brook trout and yellow perch.

However, the invasive chain pickerel started making the park its new home in 2018.

“They are quite good at what they do. It’s an invasive species because they reproduce quickly, they move quickly, they’re actually the top predator in our watersheds right now,” said Gabrielle Beaulieu, an ecologist with the national park.

“And they outcompete a lot of the native species, both for food and shelter throughout the park, as well as outside of the park.”

According to the latest Kejimkujik Angler Diary Report, chain pickerel have dominated catches since their reporting began in 2015.

The newest report shows more than 5,300 chain pickerel caught, compared with 5,006 brook trout and just under 4,000 yellow perch.

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Beaulieu says the situation was especially dire last year, with nine in 10 fish caught being chain pickerel, leading the national park to end its brook trout creel census.

The census involved volunteers catching the trout, recording information about them and releasing them back into the waters.

“Unfortunately, because chain pickerel has now essentially taken over a lot of the populations of fish in the waters at Kejimkujik, we felt it necessary to reduce any potential stress that we would be putting on native species of fish,” Beaulieu said.

Sheri MacNeil with the Nova Scotia Invasive Species Council says the fish were introduced to the province in the 1940s in the Yarmouth and Digby areas for sport fishing.

The population has now exploded, with the council monitoring waterways in northern Nova Scotia and Cape Breton for the fish.

“They have impacted the trout and it will happen in other watersheds in other areas if we don’t try to prevent the spread,” MacNeil said.

Nova Scotia has a catch-and-kill policy in place for the fish.

Beaulieu says the “silver lining” is that chain pickerel are quite easy to spot on the surface of the water. Both she and MacNeil say it’s important for anglers to keep an eye out and to be cautious about introducing the species to any new areas or watersheds where they can proliferate.

“The food here is plenty. They’re doing well. They are a shallow, warm water species and they’re predatory,” Beaulieu said. “So all the conditions here are actually quite good for chain pickerel to establish and stay long-term.”

Originally published on globalnews.ca — View original