Let them fish

By Joel Wittnebel/The Oshawa Express

Legally casting a line off the Oshawa pier is one step closer to final approval.

Following a motion approved at council’s Development Services committee meeting on June 18, a recommendation has been sent to council to officially allow anglers to fish from the Oshawa pier. The final approval will go to a vote on June 25.

It may come as a surprise to many that fishing is not allowed on the pier in the first place, as fisherman are a common sight at the waterfront in the summer months. However, under the current agreement with the Oshawa Port Authority (OPA), fishing off the pier is in fact illegal and can result in a fine.

It was a lesson a group of fisherman learned the hard way earlier this year when, after climbing around the closed gate (the pier is gated off for safety reasons in the winter), the group were handed tickets by bylaw enforcement officers.

Following that incident, the fisherman brought their issues to city hall, with one of them noting he was “dumbfounded” by the fact that fishing wasn’t allowed on the pier, and called it a “black mark against Oshawa.”

However, since that time, the woes at the pier were exemplified when the OPA mentioned that public access to the pier may need to be eliminated altogether due to issues with insurance. It was only in recent weeks that the city and OPA have come to an agreement and the pier has once again been opened for public use.

Few details have been shared about what the new agreement with the OPA would look like, or if any restrictions would be placed on when and where fisherman are allowed to fish on the pier.

The motion simply states, “the Oshawa Port Authority be requested to amend the existing agreement to allow fishing from the Oshawa Pier and that the Mayor and City Clerk be authorized to execute the agreement.”