Trout catch destroyed by ferocious hunter attack in Kejimkujik

Kejimkujik National Park in Nova Scotia is stopping its annual brook trout census because an invasive species is destroying the local ecosystem.

The census began in the 1990s with volunteer fly fishermen who would count, weigh and measure any brook trout caught to help Parks Canada monitor the species.

However, Parks Canada told CBC News in a statement that this year’s census is being put on hold due to the impacts of chain pickerel, noting that nine out of every 10 fish caught in 2025 in the national park in western Nova Scotia were from this fish.

A spokesperson for the agency said, “With the arrival of the invasive chain pickerel, the numbers of brook trout reported in the creel census are not high enough to meet statistical power for this monitoring project.”

(Chennai pickerels, illegally introduced into Nova Scotian waters in 1945, spread throughout the province and established themselves.First appearance in the park in 2018. Once established in a water system, they quickly take over, and eat whatever they can – other fish, reptiles, frogs, dragonflies, even ducks.

data from the park fisherman’s diary The program shows that the catch rate of predatory hunters increased from 18 percent in 2020 to 66 percent in 2021 and more than 80 percent the following year.

Ken Donnelly, executive director of Invasions Canada, said that once chain pickerel are established, they are almost impossible to get rid of.

“It’s sad that it’s come to this, but I completely understand where they’re coming from,” he said of Parks Canada’s decision. He said it felt “a bit defeatist”.

According to Parks Canada, Kejimkujik contains 46 lakes and ponds and more than 30 streams and rivers, most of them part of the Mersey River watershed, which drains the north of the park and is the largest in Nova Scotia.

The agency says that because of that connectivity, it is not possible to permanently protect the Kejimkujik or Mersey River systems from chain pickerel.

Kejimkujik staff attempted to create fish barriersBut because of flooding, they were not effective in stopping the spread.

This does not mean that they have given up mitigation efforts.

“With the help of volunteers, Parks Canada staff have removed more than 5,300 chain pickerel and counting,” the agency said.

Chain pickerel are mandatorily kept in Kejimkujik, which means that fishermen who catch them cannot release them back into the water. All native fish species, including trout, should be returned to the water.

Parks Canada will continue to monitor brook trout in other ways, such as its Angler Diaries program and an annual program deploying fike nets in various Kejimkujik water bodies to track native fish populations.

Donnelly said conservationists should shift their focus from the park to other areas where chain pickerel have not been introduced.

He said, “If anything could be done it would be in the early days of the invasion, not later.”

Acadia University biology and mathematics professor Trevor Avery has tracked chain pickerel in Kejimkujik since its introduction.

His university team studies chain pickerel caught in the park, analyzing their stomach contents. Chain pickerel are ambush predators, and Avery said they will quickly eat anything that fits in their mouth.

“They’re really good at what they do,” he said.

Avery said population management options range from extremes such as the U.S.Rotenone, a naturally occurring fish insecticide, from More moderate targeted fishing.

“Humans are really good at getting rid of things,” he said, adding that consistent fishing can help keep large chain pickerel out of the water, though not completely get rid of them.

recreational fishing

Nova Scotia is known for its world-class brook trout fishery, said Andrew Lowles, resource manager for the Nova Scotia Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture.

He said that history can be traced tent dwellerA book published in 1908 that tells the story of a group of friends on a week-long fishing trip in the area that is now Kejimkujik National Park.

But Loles said chain pickerel, known for their hard-fighting abilities, also provide an opportunity for fishermen.

“It’s easy to catch them all summer long when people are on summer vacations, when they’re staying at cottages,” he said.

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