A controversial plan to use a pesticide to get rid of invasive smallmouth bass in New Brunswick’s Miramichi watershed is now on legal hold.
A cease-and-desist order was issued Tuesday by Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Terrence Morrison to the coalition of groups that want to conduct the operation involving a chemical known as rotenone.
The court order names Daniel Houghton, a cottage owner on Miramichi Lake, as one of three plaintiffs and bars any action until an injunction hearing can be heard on Aug. 17.
In an interview, Houghton says he and other cottage owners sought the injunction on Aug. 2 to block the spraying of the chemical to kill fish in the area.
He says the court order was issued to the Working Group on Smallmouth Bass Eradication in the Miramichi after it emailed cottage owners on Tuesday informing them of their intention to move ahead with the use of the chemical within 24 hours.
In an email, a spokesman for the North Shore Micmac District Council, which is part of the working group, declined comment and said a statement would be issued this week “in regards to current events.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 10, 2022.