Suspected piranha caught near Dollar Bay
Suspected piranha caught near Dollar Bay
Fish thought to be discarded pet and not a threat
By MARK WILCOX , DMG Sports Editor
DOLLAR BAY — For the past five years, Jim Tourtillott has owned and operated the Drive Thru Bait shop in Dollar Bay. During that time, anglers have often brought him odd and unusual aquatic species for inspection and identification.
“People are always bringing me weird fish and weird looking bait critters,” he said.
During the years, Tourtillott has seen some pretty odd looking things like lamprey and mud puppies, but none of that prepared him for what was brought in for his inspection Saturday morning.
Mark Waisanen of Dollar Bay was fishing in a boat and Darren Burcar was driving near what is known as Sandy Bottom, when Waisanen caught something he couldn’t identify.
“He brought it to me because he didn’t know what it was. I thought it might be a piranha and I looked it up and it sure looks like a piranha,” he said
While mud puppies and lampreys are stranger looking than the South American piranha, this was certainly a first for Tourtillott.
“A piranha is certainly something out of the ordinary, I’d say.”
Tourtillott plans on giving the fish, which he has kept alive at his bait shop, to the DNR.
“Maybe they can do some experiments to see if its been living here, or if it’s a dumped-in fish or if its survived the winter. Who knows?”
While the DNR has yet to see the exotic fish, a spokesperson from District Headquarters in Baraga is fairly sure the fish is a recent addition to the Keweenaw Waterway.
“It’s highly unlikely it survived the winter. It was most likely a pet that someone dumped into the water, the spokesperson said.
Normally Tourtillott would agree, but there is something about the fish that intrigues him.
“What’s different about this fish is that it looks like the other fish that get caught out here. Its dark, like the crappie, northern and even the walleye, taken from the waters here. They’re all darker than normal,” he said.
Tourtillott attributes the dark coloring among the fish to slag and other metals that have been dumped in the area throughout the years.
While it is an interesting theory, Ron Kinnunen, Michigan State University Sea Grant Fisheries Extension specialist from Marquette, tends to believe the fish was an unwanted pet.
“It’s unusual but not unheard of to find piranha and other exotic fish and animals in the Great Lakes,” Kinnunen said.
But because of the cold water, piranha and other tropical fish don’t survive in the Midwest, with some exceptions.
“There are places in Wisconsin near power plants where piranha have survived because of the warm water. But up here it’s too cold for them to last.”
Because of the time of year, Kinnunen thinks the fish may have been released by a college student who was heading home for summer break.
“I remember when I was a student at Michigan Tech, guys would dump their aquariums into the canal rather than take the fish home for the summer.”
While the practice may seem like a harmless solution to unwanted pets, Kinnunen said it is a serious problem. A problem that has sparked a national campaign.
“Habitattitude is a program that Sea Grant started in Minnesota, that has become nationwide, because of the scope of this problem,” he said.
According to the Web site habitattitude.net, the expansion of harmful plants, fish and other animals is a concern that needs to be addressed.
If exotic species become established, they can cause environmental problems, and eventually make waters unusable for recreation.
Kinnunen sites invasive species like zebra mussels and the Eurasian ruffe that have been introduced in the Great Lakes, most likely through ships ballast. Because of disease and other biological and environmental concerns, Kinnunen said there is an effort to stop the release pet fish into local waters.
Habitattitude, which has partnered with the pet industry, advises owners of unwanted fish to bring them to a local pet store for adoption.
Superior Aquatics and Pets in Painesdale will adopt exotic and tropical fish.
“They really shouldn’t be released in local waters. There’s diseases and other problems,” said store owner Tom Banse. “We don’t buy pets from people, but we will adopt them so they are not dumped into local waters.”
If the fish in Tourtillott’s possession is, indeed, a Dollar Bay piranha, does that mean swimmers at the popular Sandy Bottom Park need to be concerned?
Kinnunen doesn’t think so.
“This is a rare instance and more than likely a single fish. Any attacks you hear of are by schools of piranha,” Kinnunen said.
According to the Web site AquaticCommunity.com, most piranha are vegetarian and the image of massive schools of deadly fish devouring livestock are in extremely rare, dry conditions. Normally, they travel alone and eat smaller fish.
So it seems there is not a lot to worry about concerning a piranha in Dollar Bay, assuming, of course, it’s a piranha at all.
Although he has not seen the fish, Banse said there’s a good possibility it may not be a piranha but red bellied pacu.
“I’d have to see it, but judging from the size, I bet it’s a pacu,” Banse said.
“I’ve got both of them, and other than the size it’s hard to tell them apart.”
Regardless of the breed, Banse still cautions about releasing any exotic fish into local waters.
Whether the fish that Waisanen caught turns out to be a piranha or its kissing cousin, the pacu, the thought of a such a creature lurking beneath the waters of a popular swimming hole might have a “Jaws-like” effect on swimmers at Sandy Bottom, at least for a little.
“Probably for a week or so,” Tourtillott said.
“Until it gets hot enough, then people will brave the waters again.”
Mark Wilcox can be reached at mwilcox@mininggazette.com
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