Northern Pike

Literature Cited

Frith H. R. Blake R. W. 1991. Mechanics of the startle response in the northern pike, Esox Lucius. Canadian Journal of Zoology.  69 :2831-2839.                     http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z91-399

Heise, B. 2013. Icthyology Lecture Notes. Thompson Rivers University.

Johnson B.M. Arlinghaus R. Martinez P. J. 2009. Are we doing all we can to stem the tide of illegal fish stocking? Fisheries. 34(8): 389-394.                     http://www.tandfonline.com.ezproxy.tru.ca/doi/pdf/10.1577/1548-8446-34.8.389

Runciman J.B. Leaf B.R. 2009. A Review of Yellow Perch (Perca Flavascens), Smallmouth Bass (Micropterus olomieu), Largemouth Bass (Micropterus Salmoides), Pumpkinseed (Lepomis Gibbosus), Walleye (Sander Vitreus) and Northern Pike (Esox Lucius) Distributions in British Columbia. Fisheries and Oceans Canada Science Branch, Pacific Region Biological Station. Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada.                                                                                                                                                             http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/Library/337851.pdf

Rypel A. L. 2012. Meta-analysis of growth rates for a circumpolar fish, the northern pike ( Esox lucius), with emphasis on effects of continent, climate and latitude. Ecology of Freshwater Fish. 21(4): 521-532. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com.ezproxy.tru.ca/doi/10.1111/j.1600-0633.2012.00570.x/pdf

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The Northern Pike (Esox lucius) is a circumpolar top predator in freshwater lakes and rivers in temperate regions (Rypel 2012). Circumpolar means found around the globe, and the pikes status as a top predator makes it an important component of community dynamics for the freshwater systems it inhabits. Several components of the pikes morphology facilitate its lie-in-wart predator hunting strategy: It has a big toothy mouth for catching prey, a long torpedo-like fusiform body for rapid, powerful sprinting after passing prey fish, and its anal and dorsal fins are located posteriorly to increase fin surface area for improving acceleration, sprinting speed and power (Frith 1991). Below is an image of the northern pike.

The northern pike is native to Northern BC, but poses serious potential invasive issues in southern BC (Runciman 2009). Northern pike have many healthy populations in northern BC and only two invasive locations in the Kootenays (Runciman 2009). The current invasive status in BC is not a major provincial issue because there are only the two non-native locations in Haha Lake and the Kootenay River, but potential problems are looming. The pike is a voracious predator which has wiped out populations of native fish in other places where it has been introduced such as Lake Davis in California, the upper Colorado River Basin (Johnson 2009), as well as Box Canyon Dam Reservoir on the Pend Oreille River in northeast Washington (Washington department of fish and wildlife website 2013).

The majority of invasive issues involving northern pike like the ones mentioned above as well as the ones in the Kootenays of BC are all thought to have been started by illegal introductions. The people who do these illegal introductions have been called “midnight mangers” and “bucket biologists”. They introduce the pike for fishing purposes without any kind of permission or regard for the problems it may cause (Johnson 2009).  

In Washington there has been an attempt to deal with the Northern Pike issue over the last few years (Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife 2013). The strategy was developed after a population survey in 2011 which set the goal of reducing pike by 87% in one year. The attempts have included three methods: angler harvest, fishing derbies, and pike-specific gill nets. The angler harvest is a continuous aid, the fishing derbies removed 233 pike, and the gill netting removed 5,808 pike in 2012. These methods fell short of the 87% goal, but efforts will continue into 2013. This story from Washington should serve as a warning for conservationists in BC.  

The picture below shows what a pike is capable of doing to our native salmon juveniles. Don’t the juveniles have enough to deal with considering the sea lice issues with open net pen farming? The DFO needs to keep its eye on the Northern Pike to make sure it stays in the north.     

To end this topic on a bright note, consider global warming. The pike prefers colder water (Hiese 2013) so as water temperatures rise, its potential ability to become invasive if introduced will decrease.