Pepperidge Farms may remember, but the province of Alberta, Canada, is reminding the rest of us to please not dump goldfish into the water.
According to the CBC, government officials have launched an awareness campaign about the harm goldfish can have on the environment as an invasive species.
“This isn’t because people are flushing them down the toilet and they’re making their way to the waterways,” aquatic invasive species specialist Nicole Kimmel tells CBC News. “People are actually intentionally dumping them into our waterways, and they are overwintering and thriving and finding ways to reproduce.”
“Never release anything into the water that it didn’t come from,” Kimmel continues. “People might think that they’re just dumping goldfish, but actually they might be introducing snails, fish disease, plant fragments that can also take over a water body in Alberta.”
The campaign does not mention anything about goldfish crackers, but it’s probably safe to assume you shouldn’t be dumping those into the water, either.