Goldfish Extracted from State Park Streams

By DAYNA DRUM | Reporter 

The streams in the canyon of Topanga State Park have recently been invaded by an unlikely menace—the goldfish.

Unfortunately for the little orange swimmers, the Topanga Canyon Docents are taking action against the unwelcome fish.

“This may seem innocent enough, but those fish are eating newt and frog larvae. They also can introduce parasites to the water,” docent member Lucinda Mittleman told the Palisadian-Post. 

The docents are a volunteer naturalist organization, founded in 1974, which lead guided trail hikes through the state park and share the park’s history at the Trippet Ranch Visitor Center.

Mittleman speculates that the fish have been introduced into the wild through illegal dumping. The fish were spotted last month, and docents counted 22 fish at the time. On the advice of the Topanga Sector Superintendent and other scientists, the docents formed a small committee to capture the invaders.

At the end of last month the Post accompanied the goldfish-capturing committee on one of their removal expeditions.

Armed with nets and fishing traps, the three-woman team set out on a trail in Temescal Gateway Park to the infected streams. Mittleman, Patricia Hill and Susan Markowitz made up the small yet determined group.

Hill explained her concern for the California Newts that naturally exist in this environment, and revealed she holds a special affection for newts as her favorite amphibian.

“This is a special rescue mission,” Hill said.

Using dog food as bait, the docents placed two traps into the stream hoping to lure as many of the fish as they could. By the end of the fishing expedition, eight invasive goldfish had been removed and signs imploring people not to dump goldfish in the area had been added.

The captured fish will be taken to the docents’ headquarters, frozen and fed to a pond of disabled turtles.

The group will continue their expeditions until the streams are eradicated of goldfish.