People dumped their pets into lakes. Now football-size goldfish are taking over

Don't release your pets. Ever. Most likely, they will die horribly. If they survive and find others to reproduce with, then you've got a breeding population which is not endemic to the area and has high potential to cause damage to the ecosystem.

>Far from being an innocuous domestic animal, a goldfish freed in fresh water is an invasive species, an organism that is introduced to an environment, can quickly reproduce, outcompete native species and destroy a habitat. And even though they get less attention than invasive organisms such as Asian carp or zebra mussels, goldfish appear to be a growing problem in bodies of water across the United States and around the world, triggering warnings from government officials in Virginia, Washington state, Australia, Canada and elsewhere.

>Also known by the scientific name Carassius auratus, goldfish can live to be 25 years old, weigh as much as four pounds and measure well over a foot long. They’re also surprisingly resilient: They can survive in severe conditions and can weather winters in bodies of water that have frozen over, living for months without oxygen. This quality, Bajer said, “makes them really, really tough and allows them to dominate certain types of ecosystems.”

Let's start eating it then. That will solve the problem. :D

Is this linking to the actual article or to a pricing page, I don't understand.