Fishing with Rod Discussion Forum
Fishing in British Columbia => General Discussion => Topic started by: clarki on May 08, 2025, 08:49:02 PM
-
Saw my first oriental weatherfish today. Caught in a trap in a pond in South Surrey/Langley.
(https://i.imgur.com/zj8zJH6.jpg)
Interesting fish. Long and slender, sucker-like mouth, barbels, and a rounded caudal fin.
Not the first weatherfish that has been caught out of this pond, but it's curious how it got there. The pond is immediately adjacent to the Little Campbell River and is on private property
https://bcinvasives.ca/invasives/oriental-weatherfish/
On further reading, I see they've been in the Alouette River system since prior to 2014. https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/environment/plants-animals-and-ecosystems/invasive-species/alerts/oriental_weatherfish_alert.pdf
-
May be through the Buddhist ritual of "fangsheng" where an animal destined for slaughter is released as an act of mercy.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_release
this practice has been known as source of invasive species release both locally and in many other parts of the world for a number of years.
-
They are also unfortunately al through the drainage ditches within Xexetam Regional Park (Colony Farm) along with Largemouth Bass and Pumpkinseed
-
The only place I have seen these fish is in live tanks at T&T or Superstore. I guess they are an oriental food goody.