Apache Fish Killing

So, during my last Grand Canyon visit my camera packed in. Stupid camera. It was only six months old. I’ll just have to use my descriptive powers instead of being lazy and using images.

After working on fencing and trails I found out that my next project was going to be totally different. I swapped desert for rivers, greenery in the mountains to help the Arizona Game and Fish Department kill invasive, non-native species of fish. I was pretty worried about participating in the slaughter of lots of little fishes but didn’t want to pass up the opportunity to go on such a good project with such a good crew.

It turns out I have no problem snuffing out aquatic life. We had these electrofishing backpacks to wear while wading up-river and stunning fish (like Ghostbusters in the river of pink slime but less slimy). The fish are attracted to the electricity and when they get close their muscles relax and the go limp and belly up, making them easy to net. We had to identify the species and kill some, save some and move some. It was surprisingly fun running (well, stumbling) around in rivers playing with fish. I gutted one, too (!)

The work was fun, the location beautiful, the campsite nice, the local wildlife exciting (a bear!), the supervisor great, the crew awesome, the work partners fun. Sickening, isn’t it?

I can’t resist giving you one pic. This is my favourite. I stole it from one of the crew members. Sorry Soren.