Chronic littering leads Peterborough County to place popular fishing spot off limits

The James Gifford Causeway across Chemong Lake as always been a popular spot for anglers, but there have been many complaints about the amount of litter left behind.

Over the years, Peterborough County has made efforts to curb the problem, but it still continues. In addition, the county says the sides of the causeway are narrow and rocky, offering poor footing, which makes cleanup difficult and unsafe.

“I won’t allow my staff to clean the areas where we’ve had the fisherman enjoying their afternoon because we consider it unsafe to be working around water. That made us think, ‘If it’s not safe for our staff, why are we allowing anglers to do it?’ We’re just putting ourselves and them in jeopardy,” says Chris Bradley, director of Public Works for the county.

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Now both sides of the causeway have been posted with no trespassing signs.  However, you can still fish at the east end of the causeway at the bridge and at the west end at Rotary Park.

Since the county expects those areas to be more heavily used by anglers due to restrictions on the causeway itself, the county’s ‘Clean Marine’ project will encourage visitors not to litter.

“We’ve increased our garbage cans and we have increased our garbage and recycling pickup as well. We really hope the residents and visitors will join us and keep our areas clean,” says Sheridan Graham, of the ‘Clean Marine’ project.

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Graham adds private security and the Ontario Provincial Police will be patrolling the causeway to educate anglers on the new rules.