Swan Lake Fishing Un-Banned

[Giuga10]

I read this on a couple of other forums and am ecstatic to hear this!

This was the document that was sent by many different people to the town of Markham regarding Swan Lake.

Dear Sir/Madam

I understand you have banned fishing in Southside Pond , Woodstock & Swan Lake, Markham . The reason being given is that fishing harms ducks. What evidence is there that fishing harms ducks? If this was the case Im sure the MNR would have surely banned all fishing in the Province of Ontario long ago?

Fishing from shore in small accesable community ponds give countless hours of recreational pleasure to youth, disabeled, aged and shore based anglers. To ban fishing at this site is a travesty. Shore based angling is an important recreational activity to countless citizens of your city.
Please lift this ban immediately so we can continue to enjoy fishing there.

Regards,

(your name)

And this was the reply that was sent back to one of the people.

Dear Mr. Vatter,

Thank you for your April 7, 2012 email regarding the fishing ban at Swan Lake. I would like to offer the following clarifications regarding some of the items mentioned in your email, as well as an explanation of the reasons behind the current ban on fishing at Swan Lake:

1. Fishing does not harm ducks as stated in your email. In fact, it seems that nothing these days harms ducks, as evidenced by their burgeoning population.

2. The Town of Markham strongly advocates fishing everywhere in the Town. However, as part of a 1-year Swan Lake monitoring program in response to local concerns, we have placed signage around the lake to ban fishing as a conservative safety and temporary measure to prevent anglers from fishing until we learn more about the quality of the water in the Lake. We are now of the opinion that the ban on fishing shall be reduced to a ban on fish consumption only (i.e. catch and release only). Town staff are working on replacing the current signage with new ones that will allow fishing with no fish consumption.

We completely agree with you that fishing is a valued recreational activity and we are committed to ensuring that a healthy environment will protect our fish for decades to come.

Thank you for expressing your concerns and allowing us to respond and please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

Soran Sito, P.Eng.

Manager, Environmental Assets

Asset Management Department

Town of Markham

Hopefully those signs are replaced soon so we could get back to some good angling!

Giuga10