2 Asian carp found in ponds near Toronto waterfront

[tweedwolfscream]

"not technically native" suggests there's a generally accepted definition of native species that excludes pike. The way I've always heard "native species" used it means that the species came to exist in the area by natural (ie. non-anthropogenic) means. This would include chars and whitefishes colonizing the Algonquin Highlands as the ice sheet receded to expose them, but not smallmouth bass being dumped into the same lakes by fisheries managers in 1899. Perhaps you consider this distinction arbitrary, but I've mainly heard native and non-native species discussed in the context of human impacts to the ecosystem. And if by "native to" you mean "evolved into the species as we know it in", then I doubt there would be a single species of organism native to Ontario.

Anyway, you seem to interestingly view accidental introductions as nature imposing its will in spite of human efforts. I tend to see it more as nature's balance being thrown off by human intentional and unintentional actions. Not believing literally in a sentient "nature" with agency and intent, I can't say that one of those mental constructs is more true than another, but what I take away from it is more the fragility of the ecosystem than its resilience.