Introduced Pike Threaten California's Freshwater Fish

Simple acts can have far-reaching consequences. Sometime in the early nineteen nineties, for example, someone illegally introduced the Northern Pike fish into California's Lake Davis. Many locals believe the species was introduced by a sport fisherman who preferred the aggressive pike to native trout.

But the Northern Pike is a native of the Great Lakes. At Lake Davis, it encountered no natural predators, so it quickly devoured nearly all the other fish. And water from the lake flows into the San Joaquin Delta, east of San Francisco Bay, which has an abundance of fish. If they escape Lake Davis, the pike could devastate the Delta.

Since the pike first appeared, the State of California has poisoned Lake Davis, used electroshock equipment, detonated explosives, and even tried simply to fish the lake out.

So that's the bad news. What's the good news? Every day, more and more people are becoming sensitive to the effects our choices have on the environment.

Script by Randy Ringen, copyright 2006

Discovery Links

To learn more about today’s topic, please explore the links below:

• Northern Pike in Lake Davis
• Hunting the Northern Pike