On a trip on the St. Lawrence River just south of Cooper Marsh, Ian brings a photo taken 100 years ago from Bass Island looking out towards Butternut Island. He talks about how the emergent vegetation has changed over time and ferries us to the precise spot where the photograph was taken. Ian comments on the difference between the past and the present: there is far less vegetation, even accounting for seasonal differences. Looking towards Butternut Island, he points to a now-dilapidated house he built in 1969, and the dying trees that are victims to a colony of cormorants and their feces.
Ian also shares memories of fishing in his early years on the river.
“In the 1960s, when fishing for perch, if we got four or five fish to a pound it was good. Six or seven to the pound was average’ today you need eight or nine,” he says.
On a trip on the St. Lawrence River just south of Cooper Marsh , Ian brings a photo taken 100 years ago from Bass Island looking out towards Butternut Island. He talks about how the emergent vegetation has changed over time and ferries us to the precise sp...
