Photo: AFP
Officials in Minnesota have issued a plea to residents: Stop dumping your unwanted goldfish in ponds and lakes.
The request comes after city workers found schools of overgrown goldfish in a number of bodies of water. “Please don't release your pet goldfish into ponds and lakes!” the city tweeted Tuesday. “They grow bigger than you think and contribute to poor water quality by mucking up the bottom sediments and uprooting plants.”
Daryl Jacobson, natural resources manager for the city of Burnsville, says he’d received reports of goldfish in Keller Lake, but wasn’t prepared for their size. “We expected to get goldfish, but were surprised how big they were," he says. “They are a tough species. They can survive under ice, with low oxygen and in unclear water.”