Officials drain park pond after discovery of tenacious invasive fish species: 'Even when they're very small, we need to take action and remove them'

Quick thinking by park officials appears to have prevented an invasive fish species from overtaking and traveling out of a pond at a popular Ohio recreation area. 

The Columbus Recreation & Parks Department has drained and closed Clintonville's Whetstone Casting Pond after round gobies were spotted in the water not long after the Fourth of July, according to The Columbus Dispatch.

While round gobies aren't large fish — growing on average no more than approximately six inches, per the Invasive Species Centre — they are an aggressive species from the Black and Caspian Seas that can quickly overwhelm and displace native species that help keep ecosystems in balance and prevent supply chain disruptions for nutritional necessities. 

On a broad scale, invasive species (whether plants or animals) also cause significant economic damage, with the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimating they have caused $1.29 trillion in losses over the past 50 years. 

Individually, they can result in personal property damage and create the need for painstaking yard work (unlike rewilded areas, which are easy to maintain, don't require hefty financial investments in water or pesticides, and support beneficial pollinators). 

"These are the kind of fish that can reproduce up to six times in the summer," Scott Hale, the executive administrator of fish management and research of the ODNR Division of Wildlife, told The Columbus Dispatch. "So if we have a few in there, even when they're very small, we need to take action and remove them because this pond, when it's full, can drain into Scioto River."

According to Hale, officials are uncertain how the round gobies ended up in the pond. He speculated that fishers may have ended up introducing them after using them as bait, or they might have been mixed into the stock from a private provider for an event. 

The pond, which closed on July 22, is expected to be closed for at least two weeks as officials ensure that no round gobies remain. 

"This is the first time a round goby has been found in the central Ohio area," Columbus Rec & Parks (@ColsRecParks) wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. "It is crucial to remove the round goby … to ensure it does not spread." 

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