Ice Fishing Shack Attack

The ice is still too thin, but in a matter of weeks, the Red River near Lockport will be cluttered with hundreds of ice fishing shacks.

"There’s a problem out here," said Fisherman Stu McKay, "litters the problem and the debris that’s being left behind each and every year."

For more than 30 years, McKay has used this river and says the garbage people leave behind is getting out of control.

"There’s everything out there, it’s like a landfill site at times," said McKay.

From couches to shacks, it’s a problem that’s sparked the province to take action. Wednesday night, it’s meeting with RCMP and local fishermen to find a solution.

"If we don’t look after the river, we’re not going to have this resource into the future," said Brian Gillespie with Manitoba Conservation in Gimli.

More than 500 fishing shacks line the river from Selkirk to Lockport every year, an industry that pumps $18 million into the local economy. But the problem has sparked a possible ban on ice shacks.

"The shacks left on the ice when their trying to cut the ice and ice breaking," said Gillespie.

But there’s another problem here. Officials along with RCMP will be trying to determine how to prevent people from drinking and driving while on the ice and those driving snowmobiles too close to ice shacks.

"There are some folks that we’ve had problems with, liquor can certainly be an issue in some areas," said Gillespie.

McKay worries for the future of the industry but says the solution here is to only allow portable shacks on the ice.

"If there was a ban on the permanent style shelter, no big deal."

A decision will be announced in the coming weeks following Wednesday’s meeting.