Bass Backlash

Scientists electrically cull invasive fish- and evolution shocks them back

- -Martin J. Kernan

A GROUP OF CORNELL UNIVERSITY scientists have been outmaneuvered by a formidable (and genetically supercharged) adversary: the smallmouth bass of Little Moose Lake in New York State's Adirondack Mountains.

The invasive—and drastically overpopulating—species prevailed over the scientists’ 20-year electric culling campaign by evolving to grow faster and spawn younger. This strategy let them reproduce before the scientists’ specially equipped boat took its twice-yearly lake cruise, electrically stunning all fish within several feet so the team could toss the bass into a cooler. (The other fish species were left to recover.) The lake’s bass population is now thriving in greater numbers than ever.