Removing invasive fish from mountain lakes rarely has a clean fix
Cogălniceanu D, Stănescu F, Tănase TL, Vlad SE, Snethlage M
Invasive Species
The same lesson driving lake managers, that stopping an invader before it establishes beats fighting it for decades after, applies just as directly to the weeds and pests creeping into your own garden beds.
Scientists looked at decades of attempts to remove fish that people introduced into mountain lakes and ponds, where they don't belong and often wreck the native ecosystem. They found that most efforts used either physical removal like netting and electrofishing, or chemical poisons, but success was inconsistent and depended heavily on the specific lake and fish species involved. Their biggest takeaway: catching an invasion early, before the fish population is established, saves far more time and money than trying to fix it later.
Key Findings
Review covered 35 peer-reviewed publications on fish removal from mountain standing waters (lakes and ponds).
Removal methods were primarily physical (57%) and chemical (31%), with success rates varying by species and ecosystem.
Most published research is geographically and taxonomically biased, focused mainly on salmonids in North America.
chevron_right Technical Summary
A review of 35 studies on removing invasive fish from mountain lakes and ponds finds no single method works reliably, but combining physical trapping with chemical treatments tends to work best, and preventing introductions in the first place beats trying to undo them later.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Introduced Fish in Mountains: State of Published Research on their Removal from Lentic Ecosystems.
The introduction of alien fish in freshwater ecosystems has become an increasing concern over the last decades and a considerable amount of literature exists on their ecological consequences. Howev...
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