March 11, 2008
QUEBEC CITY – The Canadian Coast Guard would like to notify local residents and those using the shores of the Saguenay fjord that spring icebreaking operations will begin at 8:00 a.m. on Thursday, March 13.
Therefore, ice-fishing cabins located between Anse Saint-Jean and Saint-Basile-de-Tableau and in the areas between Saint-Basile-de-Tableau, La Baie and Saint-Fulgence must be removed before 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday, March 12.
The purpose of this annual operation is to dislodge ice in the Saguenay and at the mouths of tributaries in order to prevent ice jams and flooding that can result from spring break-up. The icebreakers CCGS Des Groseilliers and/or CCGS Louis St-Laurent will carry out the work.
Owners of facilities on the ice should move them safely ashore. The Coast Guard strongly recommends that pedestrians, fishers and snowmobilers leave the ice when they see the icebreaker in the immediate vicinity. The ice may move, and this may create a real danger for anyone in the area of the Coast Guard vessel.
The icebreakers CCGS Des Groseilliers and CCGS Louis St-Laurent each have a red hull with a transverse white band and a white funnel bearing a maple leaf.
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FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Nathalie Letendre
Communications Advisor
Fisheries and Oceans Canada
Quebec Region
418-649-6297
