Destruction of a fishery

[bigugli]

Many of you will remember my slew of springtime posts from a Niagara honey hole. It held an abundance of transient spawning fish, and varied wildlife. Well it seem the one landowner decided to destroy the shoreline habitat for his viewing pleasure. All the shoreline structure, plant life and habitat has been bulldozed and destroyed as well as part of the spawning bed.

 

THis area was teeming with life last spring. Nothing will be living here for years to come. I accept the landowners right to alter/improve his property. I have a problem when such action causes serious damage to our public waterways and resources. There are no silt and erosion barriers in place so the topsoil just silts up the spawning areas of the shallow bay. Every tree, limb or snag in the water has been removed. Put simply he altered the bed where schools of lake run perch, drum, cats, shiners, etc... come in to spawn.

They may be rich but they is stoopid!

Edited April 13, 2010 by bigugli

[Fisherman]

Don't know if the enviro guys would have something to say about making alterations like that.

[Michael_Brown]

1-800-268-6060

 

Spills Action Centre

 

 

File a complaint. If you don't probably nobody else will either. Your right about the stream encroachment, missing silt fence and bank erosion. Just because they are wealthy doesn't give them the right to destry a spawning creek. There are plenty of ways to build a home along a stream and improve the view without trashing the entire eco-system.

 

If you call they will forward the information to the proper agency and they have to respond to the complaint. You are even allowed as the complaintant to request a follow up to find out the resolution under Freedom of Information.

 

 

 

Your duty as a concern angler.

[basketclam]

Have you contacted the DFO in Burlington? It might be worth your while to make a call.

[pikeie]

That is probably a violation of the fisheries act. The act is in place to protect all fish and there habitat... i would give a CO a call or the DFO for that matter.

[troutologist]

If it works the same as some other jurisditions, call the Conservation Authority that governs the watershed area. Then call the local Ministry of the Environment Office. You can call the SAC number (above) but call and talk to the environmental officer that deals with that area personally.

 

I would be shocked if this undertaking had a permit, if it did they didn't follow it at all. Permitting of this nature is usually done by the CA with input from the province and feds, fisheries act violation for sure.

[JohnF]

Keep us posted on how it plays out. It would be nice to learn that that property owner got slammed hard. Even if there were permits in place I doubt if they were meant to allow that kind of shoreline modification so there's bound to be repercussions of some kind.

 

JF

[Harrison]

The conservatiion authority would be ones to contact. They would have to approve any construction long before it even begins with an environmental assestment on waterfront properties. If the home owner did not do so, I understand the fines can be quite heavy.

 

or as troutologist said!

Edited March 19, 2010 by Harrison

[bigugli]

Left messages with NPCA. DFO is steaming. I'm chasing MNR red tape. Think a call to the media may be next on the agenda.

[NAW]

Keep it up man. Make sure you let us know what the results are.

 

Ya, I bet the DFO is steaming.. My cousins girlfriend works for the DFO, I'm imagining what she would be saying looking at those pics.. Not very nice words, that’s for sure.

Edited March 19, 2010 by F to the Is-H

[radar]

Thanks for following up!

[alphaalpha]

Good on ya for taking action, most probably wouldn't. Thanks for keeping up the fight to protect our environment!

[GBW]

hey, that's my house....

 

 

 

 

 

JUST KIDDING!!!!!

 

Good job making those calls as I'm sure the home owner didn't get a permit to do that.

[DRIFTER_016]

If it works the same as some other jurisditions, call the Conservation Authority that governs the watershed area. Then call the local Ministry of the Environment Office. You can call the SAC number (above) but call and talk to the environmental officer that deals with that area personally.

 

I would be shocked if this undertaking had a permit, if it did they didn't follow it at all. Permitting of this nature is usually done by the CA with input from the province and feds, fisheries act violation for sure.

 

 

Exactly, if found to be outside of the law thay will have to put it back the way it was and get a nice hefty fine to boot!!!!

[Guest ThisPlaceSucks]

mnr lands management have inspectors who do this type of compliance monitoring.

 

if there was work permits issued to work on their land, they would have been issued by the mnr under the public lands act work permit process. if there was no permits issued, an inspector can visit the site and issue the appropriate fines.

 

also, i would imagine theses folks would be interested in this as well:

http://www.escarpment.org/home/index.php

[Big Cliff]

Good for you Bruce for taking action on this I too would be very interested in the outcome.

 

Two summers ago a neighbour got caught raking some weeds in front of his dock so his kids could swim, he got fined $2500.00 because he didn't have a permit to clear the weeds. He was told that he was being let of lightly and that the fine could have been much larger.

 

When we had to repair our shore line last spring we had to get permission from DFO and had to put silt barriers in place, filter cloth to prevent any further errosion and beach rock to insure that the filter cloth couldn't shift.

 

These guys clearly have not taken any steps to prevent damage to the fisheries. This fine could be huge and they could have to pay to return the area to it's previous state.

[dheitzner]

HUUUUUGGGGGEEEEE Kudos to Bigugli for not only bringing this to light, but for following up on it.

As stated, the Conservation Authority, Department of Fisheries and Oceans and the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources are the ones to call, and if the homeowner didn't have a permit, all of the above will have their shorts in a major knot...Ouch.

As some are surely aware, if you don't follw the rules set out by these departments, they will throw the book at you: fines and restoration of the area in question to its original state. Non-complience could lead to jail time.

I would be absolutely shocked if anyone granted this clown a permit to alter the shoreline like that.

Again, great job Bigugli. I'd really like to see what comes of this.

Darcy

[Fish4Eyes]

The DFO is going to be his worst nightmare. No vegetation on that slope is screaming soil erosion. The only legal way to stop it is vegetation.

[Paully]

Very interesting.. lets see what comes of this.

 

I'll go make some popcorn..

[packrat]

I'm sure this is going to generate a whole lot more attention then this person ever imagined.

 

Where are the tree hugging, placard waving environmentalists when you need them????

[troutologist]

I'm sure this is going to generate a whole lot more attention then this person ever imagined.

 

Where are the tree hugging, placard waving environmentalists when you need them????

 

 

They are stopping the "glamorous" slaughter that hunting and fishing present....no worries about the slow affixiation of an ecosystem, not enough conflict or media attention. Imagine if they championed ecosystem issues like this? What a lobby group the environmentalists and sportsmen could be if aligned to a common goal of protecting the natural world....alas they are often sensationalists with little information on the topics they spout off about (just watch a lady denouncing the seal hunt get hakapiked at a conference a few weeks ago...the fine DFO folks came armed with facts and not ignorance and a loud voice...)

 

 

I digress, good on the gent who is taking action, all of us should be so dilligent and do our part to be stewards of our lands and waters.

[JohnF]

They are stopping the "glamorous" slaughter that hunting and fishing present....no worries about the slow affixiation of an ecosystem, not enough conflict or media attention. Imagine if they championed ecosystem issues like this? What a lobby group the environmentalists and sportsmen could be if aligned to a common goal of protecting the natural world....alas they are often sensationalists with little information on the topics they spout off about (just watch a lady denouncing the seal hunt get hakapiked at a conference a few weeks ago...the fine DFO folks came armed with facts and not ignorance and a loud voice...)

 

 

I digress, good on the gent who is taking action, all of us should be so dilligent and do our part to be stewards of our lands and waters.

 

Besides there's no blood or fur involved.

 

JF

[bigugli]

There are ways and means by which a land owner can make waterfront improvents that are beneficial for all concerned. That is not the case here. Along that bank was a thick shoreline growth of dogwoods, scrub willow, wild rose. Beneath was an under layer of marginal water grasses, weeds and a couple of pockets of water lily. Along that bank was the den of a river beaver. During the warm months, kingfishers, orioles, blackbirds, cardinal, etc... would nest there. Herons and bitterns would perch on some of the standing dead wood looking for their next meals. There were painted turtles in among the shoreline wood. Loss of the spawning bed will gradually mean the loss of those schools of lake run fish that spawn there.

I have worked on a few waterfront projects and I still can't believe the shortsightedness of this landowner. No responsible landscaper should ever be so careless. I've seen it happen a few time up in the Muskokas and Haliburtons, and the consequences were huge. On one lake the cost to restore the habitat drove the offender into bankruptcy. He had dumped some 30 truck loads of sand into a grass marsh to build the perfect beach.

 

The MNR has begun investigating.

[Spiel]

The MNR has begun investigating.

 

Good for you Bruce, keep us posted on any info you obtain on this matter.

[cheaptackle]

The MNR has begun investigating.

 

YEEESSSSSSSS!

 

Michael