Discovery of invasive species prompts Columbus to drain Whetstone Casting Pond

The Columbus Recreation and Parks Department drained the pond at Whetstone Park in recent days following the discovery of an invasive fish in the water.

The department closed the Whetstone Casting Pond in Clintonville Monday, July 22 to remove an invasive species known as the round goby . The department was alerted after fishers spotted the gobies just after the Fourth of July, according to Community Relations Chief Dominque Shank.

"We know that they (round gobies) have a negative effect on other species of fish," Shank said. "It is known to displace native fishes and other habitats used for spawning. They reproduce rapidly and thrive in poor water conditions."

Related article: Ohio Division of Wildlife releasing relatively easy-to-catch trout in Columbus-area waters

The casting pond will remain closed to the public for about two weeks, according to Shank, as they work with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources to ensure all the round gobies have been removed from the pond.

Shank says they will also clean out the pond while it is drained.

Shank says the discovery marks the first time a round goby has been found in central Ohio. To date, the round gobies have mostly been in the Lake Erie watershed, according to the Executive Administrator of Fish Management and Research of the ODNR Division of Wildlife Scott Hale.

Hale says a sighting of round gobies requires rapid removal as they pose a significant threat to the pond and surrounding bodies of water.

"The idea here is to drain all the water that we possibly can and then let the pond dry out in that way," he said.

Why are round gobies an invasive species?

The round goby (Neogobius melanostomu) is native to Central Eurasia, including the Black and Caspian seas.

Hale said gobies are known as aggressive fish that may replace native fishes and take over their habitat by reproducing often.

"These are the kind of fish that can reproduce up to six times in the summer," Hale said. "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."

How did the gobies get into Columbus' Whetstone Pond?

Although the exact cause of how the gobies ended up in Whetstone Pond is unknown, Hale says fishers may have intentionally or unintentionally brought them into the pond from Lake Erie as bait fish.

"Another way is there was a private aquaculture provider stocking fish for an event at the pond that might have had a few of those gobies mixed in with it," he said.

Hale said these nonnative fish ended up in Lake Erie, likely because of ballast water discharged from freighters that sailed into the Great Lakes.

"In that process of taking on water and discharging water that can result in invasive species being transported around the globe, but certainly in the Great Lakes," Hale said. "So, these fish came in from basically across the ocean."

The pond was expected to be fully drained by Friday, yet with rain forecasted this week, Hale says it might require more time to drain and dry it thoroughly.

ABayo@dispatch.com

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Discovery of invasive species prompts Columbus to drain Whetstone Casting Pond