Write a commentFishing is a popular year-round sport enjoyed by many in the City of Oswego, including ice fishing.
The sustained below-freezing temperatures experienced in the City of Oswego has resulted in portions of the Oswego River freezing over, inviting anglers to enter the frozen river's edge to fish. However, the Oswego River has strong currents that endanger any angler who ventures onto the frozen shelf to ice fish. The risk is too great to offset any reward that ice fishing on the Oswego River could bring to even the most careful angler. Ice fishing on the Oswego River is foolish and dangerous; not just for the anglers but for our first responders who will answer the call of a person in distress.
Minimizing the risk of injury or death by forbidding ice fishing on the Oswego River is both sound and necessary. While the NYS Canal Corporation has jurisdiction over the canal and, by extension, the navigable waters of the Oswego River, the Canal is closed and therefore those entering onto the Oswego River are trespassing and therefore subject to arrest for Trespassing and Disorderly Conduct.
Therefore, I hereby declare ice fishing on the Oswego River prohibited. Violators will be cited under the NYS Penal Law for trespassing, disorderly conduct, and any other relevant provisions of law, and strictly prosecuted.
This Executive Order shall take effect immediately and in accordance with the authority vested in me as Mayor of the City of Oswego pursuant to Article IV, Section C4-10.
By Order of the Mayor of the City of Oswego in accordance with Article IV, Section C4-00 of the Charter of the City of Oswego, as set forth in the Code of the City of Oswego, New York.
