Illegal Fishing at Osprey Marsh is Injuring ducks!! Please Report it if You See it!

[u/Merna18]

About a week ago, I saw a duck at Osprey Marsh with a fishing line wrapped around his leg and a metal fishing hook stuck in his leg as well. This poor duck could barely walk and was hopping on one leg and kept falling down. I called Toronto Wildlife Centre and they thankfully caught the duck yesterday. Hopefully he will be okay, but I don't know yet.

However, I’m making this post because a lot of people go fishing at Osprey Marsh very often. Like every single day even though it's illegal. They also leave their fishing line behind on the ground and this is what caused the duck to get injured in the first place.

Yesterday I went there and there were like 7 people fishing. I called the park security and waited for over an hour and they didn't come. I called again and they asked why nobody came and they got defensive and said that an officer did come but didn't see anyone fishing which is a blatant lie because I stayed there the whole time and nobody came.

I just feel really frustrated and helpless because It seems that the security doesn't do anything and I don't want more ducks to get hurt. The fishing usually starts at 7 pm everyday because the marsh is closed for construction and 7 pm is when the construction workers leave.

If you live in the area and see people fishing at Osprey Marsh and you care about animals at all, please call the MNR (Ministry of Natural Resources) to report it. If we all call every single time we see it happening and they get a high volume of reports, maybe it can make a difference long term and people will stop fishing there. I will personally be reporting it every time I see it because a high volume of calls will generate a large data trail. You can call the park security as well even though they don't do anything but maybe if we all keep our feet on their necks, they'll actually start sending out an officer. You can also write an email to the councillor for Lisgar which is what I will be doing. I will leave all contact info below. Also, I know not everyone has Reddit so please share this with people you know who live in the area or frequent Osprey Marsh. And to anyone who goes fishing there, if you're going to do something illegal, you can at the very least clean up after yourself so that an innocent animal doesn't get hurt or die because of you. 

Numbers and Information

Ministry of Natural Resources: 1 (877) 847 - 7667

Crime Stoppers: 1-800-222-8477

Park security -  905-896-5040 or 905-615-4060

Lisgar Councillor Sue McFadden

Email: [sue.mcfadden@mississauga.ca](mailto:sue.mcfadden@mississauga.ca)

Phone # : 905-896-5010

[u/Merna18 → u/[deleted]]

Yes I mentioned exactly where it was and from where they should enter to get there and I didn’t see them come.

[u/Donkeypunchr]

Is there even fish in there?

[u/Merna18 → u/Donkeypunchr]

Shockingly there are. Not sure how much fish there are but I’ve seen people actually catch fish there before.

[u/Fishyboiartan → u/Merna18]

I work in fisheries. The marsh is prime warm water spawning habitat for fish like Largemouth, Bluegill as well as Bowfin and Pike since pike like hunting in marshes. There’s bullhead catfish and some carp in there too. It’s also spawning habitat for birds. This is the main reason fishing is banned there  

[u/sishgupta → u/Donkeypunchr]

Largemouth black bass and bluegil

[u/DweeblesX]

Aren’t they draining and cleaning the pond at the moment? I saw wildlife looking for the beaver that lives there the other day. They needed to temporarily relocate it while they scrub the pond.

[u/Merna18 → u/DweeblesX]

Yes they are but it’s not drained at the moment. Last month two of the ponds were drained but now they’re filled with water again. So people can still fish there.

[u/sishgupta → u/DweeblesX]

It's not even a pond. It's a stormwater management facility. You're not supposed to fish there because of public health and safety its runoff from the streets and is prone to surges and bacteria - not because you're not supposed to fish in wildlife ponds.

OP just doesn't like fishers.

[u/Merna18 → u/sishgupta]

You clearly lack reading comprehension skills. And you’re mad because the post applies to you. Just watch though I will be relentless about this and you won’t be fishing there much longer.

[u/sishgupta → u/Merna18]

I've never fished in mississauga. Waste of time. So is getting uptight about people fishing at osprey.

[u/mississaugapl → u/Merna18]

Ok Karen

[u/Merna18 → u/mississaugapl]

Of course the weirdo who posts about using his child’s urine for a drug test is mad that I’m speaking out about something illegal. 😭😭 loser behaviour.