Fish Rescue 2025 Review

Thank you so much to everyone who volunteered during our 2025 Fish Rescue efforts in the irrigation canals throughout Southern Alberta. Over the 10 days we spent rescuing fish in the canals, 157 volunteers contributed a total of 1,336 hours. Sixteen of those volunteers couldn’t get enough of the fun and attended more than one fish rescue date this year. Below are our preliminary counts and the largest fish caught in the canal. For a more in-depth look at this year’s fish rescue results, keep an eye out for our final report that will be released soon.

Our first fish rescue day was at the Western Headworks Canal on October 1^st. We were thrilled by the turnout on this day, especially since it was a last-minute addition to our volunteer dates. In total, we rescued 3,494 fish on this day. The biggest fish caught was a Brown Trout with a fork length of 725 mm (~28.5 inches!), making it the third largest Brown Trout ever caught during an FC2 Fish Rescue.

Next up was the Carseland Bow River Headworks Canal, where we spent four days rescuing fish. Even on our snowiest day, we had plenty of volunteers ready to jump into the action. In total, we rescued 21,405 over the four days spent at this canal. The biggest fish caught was a Brown Trout with a 570 mm (~22.4 inches) fork length. We also caught a FC2 fish rescue record-breaking Trout Perch with a whopping 93 mm (~3.7 inches) fork length!

After a quick break to decontaminate our gear, we headed to the Lethbridge Northern Headworks Canal, where we spent three days rescuing fish. In total, we rescued 3,690 fish over the three days spent at this canal. The biggest fish caught was a Rainbow Trout with a 517 mm (~20 inches) fork length.

Finally, we spent our final two days of fish rescue at the Waterton-Belly Diversion Canal. In total, we rescued 1,929 fish over the two days spent at this canal. The biggest fish caught at this canal was a Northern Pike that measured 746 mm (just over 29 inches!), and this was also the biggest fish caught during this year’s rescue overall!   

Whether you were hauling buckets, netting or processing, we couldn’t have done it without you! Thank you for helping us save the fish!