In 1958, Pan Am helped introduce bass to Guatemala’s Lake Atitlán for sport fishing; by the late 1980s, the lake’s endemic grebe was no longer found

In 1958, an attempt to make Guatemala’s Lake Atitlán more attractive to visiting anglers set in motion an ecological change that would unfold over the next three decades. Largemouth bass were introduced into the lake with assistance from Pan American Airways in the hope that sport fishing would draw more tourists. Instead, the predatory fish entered an ecosystem that had evolved without them, preying on native fish and other aquatic life while adding pressure to the lake’s only endemic grebe.

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