Smallmouth bass eradication underway in B.C. as province asks anglers for help [Video]

The British Columbia government is encouraging anglers to pack their tackle boxes and head out to a remote lake on Vancouver Island as the province attempts to eradicate an invasive population of sport fish.

The B.C. Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship says the invasive smallmouth bass were illegally introduced into Echo Lake, southwest of Campbell River, and have since threatened the survival of native salmon and trout.

“Smallmouth bass prey heavily on smaller fish and can out-compete native fish species,” the provincial government said in a bulletin Tuesday, adding the situation could turn dire for local fisheries if the invasive bass make it into the nearby Campbell River watershed.

Last summer and into the fall, the ministry conducted an eradication operation on the lake, using gillnets and electrical current to stun or kill as many of the smallmouth species as possible, in a process known as “electrofishing.”

Another …