An 8-year-old boy’s unexpected catch during a fishing trip at a lake near Philadelphia has raised concerns about exotic pets being introduced into local waterways.On Saturday morning, Seamus Coffey, 8, reeled in a 2-lb red-bellied piranha, which he initially thought might be a large bass while he was fishing with his dad at a lake outside the city.“I’m reeling it in, and I think there’s a bass,” Seamus said, ABC reported.His father, Michael Coffey, thought it was unlike anything they had caught before. “I was like, ‘Slow down, dude, you might lose it. This looks like something we haven’t caught before.'”The boy, however, identified the fish from YouTube videos and alerted his father, Michael, to the unusual catch.“I was like, ‘Oh, this is a bluegill, I don’t know what this is.’ And he said, ‘It’s a piranha!’” Michael recalled.
Pic courtesy: Facebook/ Mike Coffey
The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission spokesman, Mike Parker, later confirmed the fish species as a piranha. “Our biologists have confirmed that this is some species of piranha,” Parker said.Michael shared pictures of the catch on Facebook. “At this point you can’t put anything past Seamus. Today he caught a 2lb red belly piranha out of the Ridley Park Lake! Of all things. #fishing #delco,” he captioned.Though the fishing trip was one heck of a story for the father-son duo to recall during family dinners, this catch is troubling. The presence of a tropical fish native to South America in a Pennsylvania lake hints at a larger concern: exotic animals purchased as pets end up in state waterways when owners can no longer care for them.“I think a lot of times people do, you know, they have a dream: I want to own an exotic fish or a snake or an alligator, and it’s cute when it’s small. But maybe they can’t afford that or house it anymore, and they decide maybe this is someone else’s problem,” Parker said.
He also added that the piranha would not have survived long in Pennsylvania’s colder waters. Domestic pets lack the survival instincts developed in the wild and are often unprepared for natural conditions. The fish likely would have died from temperature shock or starvation.“It’s a lifelong responsibility for many of these species that do live fairly long lives and are expensive to take care of, require a special habitat, special food, a lot of care. And people quickly tire of that and decide the best thing to do for this animal would be to go throw it in the river, go throw it in a pond. That is probably the worst thing you can do for an animal that’s been a pet,” Parker said.Though Michael Coffey and his eight-year-old son had an interesting holiday story to tell, they disposed of the fish. “So we ended up getting rid of it, humanely,” he said.Parker said that was the correct response. Releasing exotic species into Pennsylvania waters is illegal, as it poses a danger to the public. This is regardless of whether owning the animal is permitted. Violators face fines and prosecution.“Even if the law says that you’re allowed to own an exotic pet, whether that be a fish or a reptile, you’re not allowed to introduce that species into the wilds of Pennsylvania. So that is unlawful. You can be fined, prosecuted,” Parker added.Meanwhile, Seamus says he wasn’t scared of the piranha, even though his catch had razor-sharp teeth.“Fishing is my favourite thing,” he said.“We’ve had some crazy fishing experiences, but that’s definitely number one,” Michael said.Parker said the chance of more piranhas being in the lake is unlikely, but anyone who spots or catches an exotic fish should report it to the Fish and Boat Commission.
