The Whetstone Park casting pond has been drained after an invasive fish species was found in the water at the beginning of July.
The round goby, a fish native to central Eurasia, was found by fishermen during the July 4 weekend. When the Columbus Recreation and Parks Department found out about the fish, officials quickly closed and drained the pond.
“They’re known as destroyers,” said Dominique Shank, Chief of Community Relations for the Columbus Recreation and Parks Department. “So it was immediate for us to eradicate the issue with the round goby in order to preserve and protect the natural habitat within the Whetstone pond.”
This is the first time the round goby has been seen in central Ohio. The invasive fish was first seen in the Great Lakes in the 1990s, and thought to have hitched a ride in the ballast water of cargo ships. The round goby is considered an aggressive fish that outcompetes native species. Their diet also consists of the eggs of native fish and freshwater mussels.
Another reason for the urgency of draining the pond was because Whetstone pond can overflow into the Scioto River.
“We tested the water within the Scioto to make sure there was no species of gobies in there and it did come back negative for any species,” Shank said. “We feel pretty confident that we got to the situation and we were able to address it, before it became a much larger issue within the Scioto Mile.”
The pond needs to completely dry before it is refilled, however due to recent rain, the process is taking longer than expected.
The pond will also not be restocked with fish until a scheduled remodel of the pond, which is set to take place in 2025.