The Discovery of a Single Fish Creates Mayhem in Oregon

After spending an approximate $5.6 million to eradicate the tui chub fish from Lake Diamond, the discovery of a single fish creates mayhem in Oregon. The small tui chub is a species of fish which almost destroyed the entire aquatic population of Lake Diamond in 2007, this being the reason for the panic the little discovery created.

The tui chub is a cyprinid fish and it is native to the western parts of North America. The small fish is widespread in many parts of the continent. It is considered to be an important source of food for other fish, including the cutthroat trout.

The tui chub is small comparing to other native species that he shares waters with. It can grow up to 10 inches in length, but there was a record of a tui chub of 18 inches being discovered. The fish has an olive color with white stripes on the belly. Its fins are olive and red.

The problem with the small fish first appeared in 1954 when somebody thought about using it as live bait for the local Lake Diamond trout. The tui chub then continued to multiply, as it did in the 1990s when it reappeared in the lake and ended up counting over 30 billion specimens. When the numbers hit such a high level, agency biologists started devising a plan of eradicating the fast-multiplying fish.

Unfortunately, by 2006, the population counted over 90 million specimens. This led to an alteration of Lake Diamond’s ecosystem. Because of the changes, a blue-green sort of toxic algae bloomed and spread on the water surface, leading to the disappearance of a few native species of fish that were more delicate than the indestructible tui chub.

After discovering the effects that the blue-green toxic algae had on the lake, a private, federal, and state partnership raised $5.6 million to eradicate the invading fish species. In 2006, they ultimately used rotenone to kill all life in the water accumulation.

In 2007, they starting repopulating Lake Diamond with plants and fish. Obviously, the tui chub was not reintroduced into the lake. This is why the discovery of a single fish creates mayhem in Oregon, they were sure that nothing survived in the 2006 extermination.

Upon closer examination of the specimen they found, the biologists established that the fish was no more than 4 years old, thus, he must have been introduced in the lake after the 2007 repopulation.
Because the tui chub specimen was found at an early stage, the people in charge of Lake Diamond’s preservation are hopeful that they will be able to contain the threat that the fish poses to the trout population.

Image source: www.wikipedia.org