The town of Little Bay East is still bearing the weight of a smell that has been plaguing the area for years.

For the last two years, herring have become trapped under the ice. Their rotting carcasses engulfing the town in a foul smell and even turning the water in the harbour green.

Resident Sue Neilson deals with the stench daily. She says when the smell gets really bad she has to put VapoRub rub under her nose to walk to the post office because at least then she can breathe through her nose and won’t taste it in the back of her throat.

According to Neilson, the smell is giving the town a bad reputation. “People call us the stinky place,” she says. Neilson doesn’t have much hope for tourism in the area, noting that people will often “whiz right on by.”

She says there needs to be, at least, a temporary solution put in place soon because if the herring get caught under the ice again the area “won’t be livable.”