When trapped in a fishbowl, goldfish appear harmless — and a little boring. However, all these popular pets need is the freedom of a lake or pond to grow to incredible sizes. Officials in Minnesota are reiterating their warnings about dumping goldfish in the wild after discovering a number of giant goldfish in a local lake.
‘Please don’t let your pet goldfish loose in ponds or lakes!’ In a tweet, the city of Burnside, Minnesota, pleaded for help. They grow bigger than you think and muck up the bottom sediments and uproot plants, contributing to poor water quality.’ The city also posted photos of some of the obscenely large goldfish they’d recovered from Lake Keller to prove their point.
The fish was the size of a ‘football’ and weighed around four pounds. For reference, the goldfish found in pet stores are usually only 0.2 to 0.6 pounds.
Officials were first alerted to the giant goldfish in Lake Keller after a number of civilian complaints.
Caleb Ashling, a natural resources specialist with Burnsville, said, ‘We had some reports from residents of some increasingly large groups of goldfish out on the lake. People could see them from the shore, or if they were kayaking, they could see them from the safety of their boat.’
Burnside enlisted the help of a company called Carp Solutions after forming a partnership with the nearby town of Apple Valley. What they discovered astounded them. They were soon removing massive goldfish from Lake Keller’s waters. They caught ten giant goldfish in the first week. In the second, they caught 18 more.
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