Mysis Shrimp in Okanagan Lake

Did you know that we have shrimp in the our lakes in the Okanagan? Sadly these are not the tasty shrimp you can order at a restaurant. In fact they are not even true shrimp. These are Mysis shrimp, an introduced species that has caused problems to many of our aquatic species, especially Kokanee salmon.

It was first brought to the lakes as a mean to help feed the salmon, but things did not go according to plan and instead the shrimp started competing with the salmon for zooplankton. After the shrimp were introduced, there was a sharp decline in the abundance of kokanee salmon, which is thought to be caused by the shrimp.

Work is being done currently to harvest and remove the shrimp, to bring balance back to the lake. The collected shrimp is then used as fish food for different commercial aquariums and fisheries.