Medicine Hat area angler warns about litter after catching fish choked by plastic
MEDICINE HAT – Adam Turnbull wants to see less litter in the South Saskatchewan River.
Turnbull had a close look at the impact of human garbage on the river wildlife this past Saturday. He regularly fishes off the riverbank in Strathcona Park in Medicine Hat, and on the weekend, he reeled in a pike which had been disfigured by a piece of plastic tightly wound around it’s body.
According to Turnbull, the fish had fought normally on the way in, and he noticed what appeared to be a large wound on it’s body. While he initially thought it had been attacked by another fish, he soon found the wrapper from an energy drink had gotten caught on the pike’s body.
After documenting the injury, he cut off the wrapper with a pair of scissors, placing the fish back in the water. It swam away “like a dart” according to Turnbull.