Yellow Fish Road in Clinton

Yellow Fish Road™ comes to Clinton for first time

Local students paint yellow fish to remind people to keep oil, chemicals, waste, and other substances off the ground, out of storm drains, and out of local rivers, lake  

If you walk through the streets of Clinton after April 29, you may notice images of bright yellow fish painted beside storm drains along some roadways. Painted yellow fish with a water protection message are coming to Clinton as Ausable Bayfield Conservation is bringing to town, for the first time, the Yellow Fish Road™ program.

Students from St. Anne’s Catholic Secondary School, St. Joseph’s Catholic School, and Clinton Public School are scheduled to join forces to paint yellow fish on the streets close to their schools on Friday, April 29. About 300 storms drains will be marked in Clinton and 500 households will have fish hangers with stormwater drain information placed on doorknobs and in mailboxes. Erma Weernink, a teacher at St. Anne’s Catholic Secondary School in Clinton, submitted a successful application, to bring the program to the area, through a Learning for a Sustainable Future grant called EcoLeague. “I applied for this grant to give the Grade 9 students a chance to lead younger students and to help educate the residents of Clinton about the importance of clean water,” she said.

Karen Tigani, Principal at St. Anne’s Catholic Secondary School, thanked all the partners who are bringing the Yellow Fish Road™ program to the area. “I’m very inspired and proud of the collaboration between schools and the community,” she said.

The previous week, Ausable Bayfield Conservation Foundation funded a program where the 1st Ailsa Craig Girl Guides and 1st Ailsa Craig Boy Scouts painted 45 yellow fish near storm drains on streets in Ailsa Craig.

You may know about the Yellow Brick Road. Have you heard about the Yellow Fish Road? Trout Unlimited Canada launched the Yellow Fish Road™ in 1991. The program has grown across the country. More than 60,000 volunteers have taken part. Volunteers in the program paint yellow fish symbols next to storm drains and give out fish-shaped brochures to homes and businesses. The yellow fish is a recognized symbol to remind people that things that go into the storm drain end up in the water we use for drinking, fishing, and swimming. Making sure that things don’t spill onto the ground helps to ensure they don’t end up in our water.

Ausable Bayfield Conservation is an official partner with Trout Unlimited Canada and delivers this program throughout the watershed. You are invited to contact Ausable Bayfield Conservation about how you can bring Yellow Fish Road™ to your school, neighbourhood, or community. Phone 519-235-2610 or toll-free 1-888-286-2610 or email info@abca.on.ca. The Yellow Fish Road program is offered from April to October. 

“It is great to partner with local schools to bring Yellow Fish Road™ to the community of Clinton and area,” said Denise Iszczuk, Conservation Educator with Ausable Bayfield Conservation. “The yellow fish serves as a reminder for people to properly dispose of household hazardous waste so that pollution is kept out of our creeks, rivers, and Lake Huron.”

Those delivering the program say that following the Yellow Fish Road™ can lead to cleaner water and the protection of water, soil, and living things. Thanks to participation by local watershed communities, yellow fish have been popping up across the watershed including Ailsa Craig, Bayfield, Zurich, Parkhill … and now Clinton. Organizers describe the Yellow Fish Road™ program as an easy, effective way to engage youth and community members in protecting and improving the water quality of our river, streams, and lake.

Anything that runs off the ground can end up in our water, according to Iszczuk. When rain falls or snow melts there is water on the ground. That water then runs off of lawns, fields, parking lots, sidewalks, and streets. That runoff can carry oil, litter, salt, pesticides, feces, or other pollutants into storm drains and then into the lake. That pollution can hurt the health of fish and wildlife. It can also harm humans. Lake Huron is the source of drinking water and recreation for hundreds of thousands of people in small towns and cities in Canada and the United States.

“This program is a great chance to learn easy ways you can make changes that protect your local creeks, rivers, and ultimately Lake Huron,” said Iszczuk. “The small changes you make can protect plants, fish and other animals in the water and on the land, and protect people too.”