Calgary volunteers wade into flooded areas to rescue dozens of stranded fish

Photo, courtesy Jen Gerson/National Post. Alberta government teams use electrofishing to safely capture fish trapped by the receding flood waters of the nearby Bow River. They throw an anode that looks like an egg beater into the water in Bowness Park. An electric current is then sent through the water, which temporarily stuns the fish and forces them to move toward the boat. A second government scientist then catches the fish with a net and puts them in a tub where they're promptly transferred to the Bow River.

Calgary volunteers wade into flooded areas to rescue dozens of stranded fish

by Jen Gerson, National Post, July 01 2013

Wearing beige hip waders and baseball hats, Nicole Goerlitz and Gene Aquilini carry a blue plastic tub filled with about two dozen stunned freshwater fish, most of them no longer than the length of a hand.

Dipping the tub into the water, they slowly splash cold water from the still-too-fast Bow River. They grab the fish — mostly White Suckers — one by one, wake them up with a wiggle and watch as they make a mad dash for deeper, cooler waters.

“If I were here fishing and I caught one of these, I would be very unhappy,” said Ms. Goerlitz, a teacher. “But every fish counts.”

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