Invasive species found in Miramichi Lake

Imagine paying $100,000 for a smallmouth bass.

That's exactly what could happen to the person who introduced smallmouth bass into Miramichi Lake.

In late August an angler caught a bass in the lake and turned it in to the Department of Natural Resources in late September.

The problem is bass aren't native to the lake.

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans did electro fishing to check population levels and found different age classes, which means bass were there for several years.

New Brunswick Salmon Council president Tom Benjamin said invasive species can not only bring parasites and diseases to their new home, but can also be aggressive predators.

"They will eat small fish."

So far the Miramichi has been lucky with invasive species because there haven't been many here, he said.

"We'd like to keep it that way."

Benjamin said fishing on the Miramichi is worth about $20 million to the New Brunswick economy, but people won't travel here to fish bass.

"They love to come here and fish Atlantic salmon."

DFO corporate communications manager Frederic Buttruille said his department thinks someone intentionally introduced the bass into the lake.

"We are looking at the case from an enforcement point of view."

Fines for introducing an invasive species can range up to $100,000, he said.

"That's because potentially it's a dangerous thing to do."

Buttruille said the bass move to deeper waters in the lake during the winter and they don't expect them to spread into the river before they develop a plan.

"It's not the most dangerous time of year for that."

Smallmouth bass were first introduced in parts of New Brunswick in the 19th century and there is no recent data on their effects in new habitats, he said.

"Certainly impacts can be measured."

Buttruille said young bass eat the same insects as other fish and older bass eat other local fish.

"When it's bigger it's a predator for the young salmon and trout."

There is no doubt the bass are a threat to the Miramichi watershed, he said.

"There's no doubt we're taking the file seriously."

President of the Miramichi Salmon Association Mark Hambrook said his group is also concerned about the introduction of new species into the watershed, "Especially one that preys on young salmon and trout."

A few years ago someone introduced chain pickerel into Depres Lake, he said.

"It's all done by people introducing them illegally."

Hambrook said Depres Lake was almost dead before their introduction and there were no salmon or trout in it.

"Chain would have been a disaster it had spread throughout the Miramichi watershed."

Once the fish established themselves in the lake, it was poisoned to kill them off.

Poison can be an expensive and time consuming option, he said, and might not be feasible because Miramichi Lake is so big.

"To me the preferred option is to get rid of the bass."

Benjamin said another option is a boulder dam at the end of the lake to let water drain out, but keep the fish in.

"There are other possibilities, but it's still a little early."

Hambrook said even though it might take a few years for the bass to spread throughout the system, the problem needs to be addressed.

"The time to correct it is now before you have a huge population."

So far electro fishing found one fish in the brook that runs out of the lake and none have been found in the Southwest Miramichi, he said.

"It doesn't mean there's none out there."

Electro fishing shocks the water and stuns the fish for a short time so they can be picked up in nets and released unharmed later.

Buttruille said electro fishing is often used to count fish.

"In the case of the bass we remove them from the water when we find them."