By Cecilia Nasmith/Today’s Northumberland
Whether Cobourg needs a fish-cleaning station at the marina was extensively debated at this week’s committee-of-the-whole meeting of council.
In the end, the removal of the station council voted for is a temporary measure for this season only.
Nevertheless, this season and going forward, the motion they passed prohibits the cleaning of fish (and the disposal of the resulting waste) on municipal property, including waterfront grounds and infrastructure, municipal parks, properties and bridges.
Deputy Director of Community Services Teresa Behan told council that the closure of the fish-cleaning station was preceded by reaching out to user groups, including fishing-charter operators (a growing demographic), and they were in favour of not opening it this year.
“We have experienced problems already this season with it not being open, people cleaning their fish anywhere and leaving the refuse on the ground,” Behan said.
Closing the fish-cleaning station is just a matter of removing the table attached to the marina building and not connecting the exterior tap so that the water doesn’t run.
Traditionally, anyone wanting to use this facility goes into the marina office and is given a garbage bag for the waste. Other fish-cleaning stations use garburators, which are against Cobourg’s bylaws.
“We encourage people to dump (fish waste) in the lake or clean your fish at home,” Behan said.
“The marina does sell plastic coolers and ice if you want to take your fish home intact.”
A discussion followed about how important it is to have a proper fish-cleaning station (as opposed to just a table and a tap) and how expensive a garburator might be.
Municipal clerk Brent Lawson reminded council that the motion was about more than just the fish-cleaning station – its main thrust was to ban fish cleaning on municipal property. Councillor Brian Darling urged council not to lose sight of this.
“I went down to where fishermen were cleaning fish on the Factory Creek shoreline and leaving the refuse, and it attracts animals. Implementing the bylaw is important,” Darling said.
Nevertheless, Councillor Aaron Burchat made an amendment to the motion that staff be directed to prepare a report on changes that might be made to the fish-cleaning station in time for 2022 budget deliberations. In the meantime, the current set-up will be removed for a year.
Mayor John Henderson asked when the station traditionally opens for the season. Basically, Behan said, they leave the water disconnected until such time as it won’t freeze – usually some time in May.
Not wanting to see too much of the 2022 fishing season lost, Henderson added an amendment that the fish-cleaning station be removed until May 31, 2022.
