A three day cleanup of Cobourg Harbour has results in 20 metric tons of aquatic plants being removed.
The pesky problem has been plaguing the harbour basically since the start of the season.
A local company, WeedsBeGone was brought in on Tuesday, August 26, 2025 to clean up the area.
Nick Demarco, President of WeedsBeGone said the summer has been the perfect breeding grounds for the invasive vegetation.
The plants are likely Eurasian watermilfoil (Myriophyllum spicatum).
Although it’s native to Europe, Asia and northern Africa, it is considered invasive to areas of North America including Canada.
“Floating weeds will cause algae, algae can become toxic to the eco-system, humans and pets. So removing the evasive vegetation is a necessity.”
WeedsBeGone has been around for many years, but this year has been the busiest due warmer water, less rain creates bacteria and less movement.
“Every year the weeds don’t get maintained, they turn into a decomposition at the bottom of the canals and lakes which causes shallower water, which causes more vegetation growth.”
“This is probably the worst year we’ve ever seen, the most calls we’ve ever had and the most amount of vegetation coming out of canals, marinas and ponds.”
With the invasive species spreading, it’s paramount that maintenance exists to prevent future problems.
“The vegetation has got so bad, maintaining it is difficult – but if it was taken care of at the right time we might have been able to keep on top of it.”
Demarco said preventative maintenance tools like aeration and fountains are helpful.
Years ago people raked the weeds in front of their lakefront properties, but it’s got so bad that even that is futile in most cases.
WeedsBeGone now uses a number of machines that not only remove the weeds from the surface but have the capabilities of removing them from the bottom of the harbour.
Numerous people watched the workers clearing the weeds and were asking a number of questions including what happens to the tons of weeds once they are removed from the harbour.
Demarco said they recycle the vegetation and turn it back into compost, making community gardens from it.
“The nutrient value in the vegetation is very high so we are using this nuisance problem and putting it back into the ecosystem.”
“Everything that’s even at the bottom has absorbed nutrients – so after it decomposes, this is the most nutrient rich, without any chemical use.”
Every year if the build-up on the bottom of the harbour isn’t removed, it turns into composition – and if it isn’t removed, “you’ll be into big money into dredging projects which is very impactful to the ecosystem.”
“That’s why we say maintaining it before it gets too late is the most important thing to do.”
Author: Pete Fisher
Has been a photojournalist for over 30-years and have been honoured to win numerous awards for photography and writing over the years. Best selling author for the book Highway of Heroes - True Patriot Love
