More Ice Anglers Due to Virus Meant More Trash Left Behind

Real Esate By Jo Website

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The coronavirus pandemic drove many Minnesota residents outdoors to go ice fishing and authorities say it led to an increase of an unwanted byproduct. Some anglers left behind litter and trash.

“In some places, it was a little more than usual,” said Joe Albert, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources spokesman. “And that’s likely kind of reflective of the fact that there (were) more people out this year ice fishing.”

Discarded items ran the gamut from cigarette butts to bait to plastic bottles to slabs of wood used to prop up fish houses, Minnesota Public Radio News reported.

On a visit to Medicine Lake in early March, conservation officer Brent Grewe filled the back end of an all-terrain vehicle with trash he collected, including beer cans, pieces of Styrofoam, plastic bags and even a tip-up flag that alerts anglers when they’ve caught a fish.

“It’s just kind of disgusting,” Grewe said.

There was a silver lining. Grewe noticed more anglers cleaning up other people’s messes, which he called “a breath of fresh air.”