Yellowknife (May 07/04) - Don Portz says he is tired of watching weekend fishers and partiers turn his backyard paradise into a garbage dump.

Portz and his wife Donna live in a cabin on the shore of Walsh Lake, about 20 kilometres from downtown Yellowknife.

Every winter, Portz and a friend clear an ice road down the middle of the lake.

The lake receives a fairly high volume of traffic both winter and summer, but it's the winter onslaught that causes Portz the most grief.

Beer bottles, McDonald's wrappers, discarded kennel straw, and now abandoned ice shacks, are among the items making a mess of Walsh Lake, he said.

Portz said he has spent the last three years cleaning up after ice fishermen who've abandoned their ice huts, including wood stoves, fish hooks, and tools.

"I had to tear (an ice shack) down last year with the carpet all frozen into the ice. It was a hell of a mess," he said.

"It's a danger to boating and the environment."

With its close proximity to Yellowknife, Portz said he is worried the problem may only get worse.

Gerald Fillatre, a fisheries officer with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, said his office is considering adding rules for placing and removing ice shacks to NWT fishing regulations.

"We're currently doing a re-write (of legislation) so it could be one to two years down the road," said Fillatre.

No rules now

At present, there are no specific rules for ice shacks in the Northwest Territories. The new regulations would likely require anglers' names to be put on the shacks, he said.

However, Fillatre said a person who abandons a fish shack could be charged with destroying fish habitat and fined up to $100,000.

This week, Fillatre counted three ice shacks still standing on Walsh Lake, even though the ice road is no longer being maintained and the spring thaw is near.

Because few ice shack owners attach their names to them, fisheries officers often don't know where to turn, said Fillatre. "We want to do this voluntarily versus having to go out and charge people."

Portz is contemplating another weekend of cleaning up around the lake.

"Come this time of year, they think it's their God-given right that I plow the road," said Portz. "Once the snow goes we'll probably spend two days cleaning up around the ice."