Millions of logs sank while being transported from forest to mill in the days before cranes and trucks and have remained there undisturbed, often perfectly preserved. The fear is that harvesting logs carries serious risks to the underwater eco-system because they've become critical to the health of fish. Five years ago, Bos took 30 logs from the lake and what used to be a prime walleye fishing spot vanished, he said. It's like I've eliminated a piece of their home. How much is known isn't very much.
Critics say that's reason enough for a moratorium until the impact is better understood.
It's been practice in Canada for decades, with underwater loggers showing up in British Columbia, Quebec, New Brunswick and Ontario. Ancient Timber Inc. Water-Logging based in North Bay, one of about a dozen such companies in Ontario. Underwater loggers are required to go through an extensive approval process that includes the federal Fisheries Department and Ontario's Natural Resources and Environment ministries. Ed Reid, of the Ontario Federation of Hunters and Anglers, said the organization is most worried about how underwater logging is monitored. We haven't really monitored an ongoing wood removal.