Is the bullfrog threat to Victoria's water supply nothing but bull feathers?
Local governments have spent thousands of dollars trying to stop the spread of the American bullfrog but the province says the amphibians pose no threat to water quality in watersheds.
"To date there is no scientific evidence to suggest that bullfrogs pose a threat to water quality in community watersheds," the sa国际传媒 Environment Ministry says in an official response to a Union of sa国际传媒 Municipalities resolution calling for provincial funding to manage the bullfrog invasion.
Bullfrog impacts "are often exaggerated in the media and non-scientific literature," says the ministry.
It's an evaluation that has caught some, like Capital Regional District water division manager Jack Hull, by surprise.
"I must admit, I have never seen such a conclusive statement -- that there is no impact," Hull said.
CRD water and parks departments have each been ponying up about $20,000 a year for the last few years to fund biologist Stan Orchard in his efforts to stop the spread of the American bullfrog into Greater Victoria's watershed. Orchard has also received funding from local municipalities such as Saanich, Langford and Metchosin.
"It's not my area of expertise, but I am surprised they would draw that conclusion," Hull said.
Hull said the matter will be discussed at the next water commission meeting in the fall.
"I've just seen this [the province's official position] this morning. What we'll be doing internally is discussing it with our biologists here," Hull said, adding any decision on future funding is up to the commission.
"I don't think we want to see the water bodies in the watershed being dominated by the American bullfrog. Why take the risk?"
Orchard, who over the past three to four years has carved a niche business out of eradicating the marauding frogs, says the province is simply trying to rationalize what he calls a long-standing, do-nothing approach.
Orchard says the bullfrogs are voracious predators that can cause tremendous ecological damage to watersheds. Once adult, bullfrogs that can grow to the size of a dinner plate will eat turtles, baby ducks, woodland birds and garter snakes.
Orchard said the bullfrogs could disrupt the health of reservoirs by devouring native fauna. Bullfrogs could also infest the local environment with new bacteria or parasites.
People want the frogs gone for a variety of reasons, he said, ranging from noise pollution to degradation of swimming areas.
"Species diversity is going down in these lakes and ponds where bullfrogs become established and their densities increase," he said.
The bullfrogs were first brought to sa国际传媒 decades ago for commercial frog-leg production.
Introduced into Beaver and Elk Lakes in the 1960s, they have migrated throughout southern Vancouver Island.
Orchard has been stopping the migration and wiping out the frogs by setting up a control corridor between Esquimalt Lagoon and Finlayson Arm.
He uses electroshock devices to stun and capture the frogs, which are then put in freezers and frozen to death.
He has removed 12,000 bullfrogs from southern Vancouver Island in recent years.
"We've taken lakes from thousands of bullfrogs to virtually zero in two to four years," he said.
