Old Montreal fishing tour operator worries sewage dump will kill business

It's grim times for an Old Montreal fishing tour operator who worries that his business might be sunkby the ongoing week-long sewage dump, which will see eight billion litres of sewagepumped into his fishing grounds.

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Jean Desjardins has been navigating the St. Lawrence for the last four years with tourists and other anglers who dreamof making the big catch.

The St. Lawrence offered great fishing and fishso pristine that their mercury levelsregistered lowerthan those found in local markets, he said.

But the sewage dump might forever tarnish that reputation, he fears,as the massive amountof raw sewage ispumped into the waters.

Desjardins is confident that the river will heal itself but whether itsreputation will do the same remainsanother matter.

"The flow of the current will bring the wastewater downriver but there's a picture that people will have in their minds," he told CBC's Daybreak.

"Right now you can't even touch the water,so asking people to come and catch their dinner in itwill be hard work."

Desjardins is unsure whether he will open his ice fishing service this year, as he usually does at the start of January.

He said that so far he has not heard back from the city in his plea for some sort of support to help out his imperilled business but he still holds out hope that municipal authorities might find a way to address his plight.

"I am not sleeping well. I'mgettingeight billion litres of wastewater dumped into my office," he said.

"It's a sad week for our fishing and the St.Lawrence River."