Why this big fish caught in downtown Toronto is a big deal for the environment

Will Sampson has been fishing in Toronto Harbour for his entire life and he couldn’t believe what was happening.

The water was calm last Sunday morning as Sampson and a friend trolled their usual spots between Toronto Island and the downtown waterfront. A layer of fog still covered the city’s towering skyline.

With the CN Tower and other Toronto landmarks just a few hundred metres away, Sampson landed a big fish rarely seen in the big city.

“It was definitely a shock and we knew we had caught a unicorn.”

At first Sampson thought he had a large pike, a species more common to the