DONKIN, N.S. -- On April 1 Sandlake Road in Cape Breton would usually be lined with vehicles and people eager to cast a line.

Sport fishing season was supposed to start Wednesday in Nova Scotia, but it's been delayed until May 1 because of COVID-19 and the area looked more like a ghost town.

Jeff McNeil is the president of the Port Morien Wildlife Association and loves to fish.

"For mental health and stress, it's a great stress reliever," McNeil said. "It would be beneficial to have for those purposes and it does give people a break from the current situation."

He says the decision to delay the season comes with mixed reaction from his members. Some think with the open air and physical distancing the season should have started on Wednesday.

"If a lot of people accepted the advice of the province early on, we might not be in this predicament now," McNeil said.

In an interview with CTV News, Nova Scotia Premier, Stephen McNeil says there is a risk and called the decision to delay the season "pretty easy."

"A lot of people come in to do sport fishing into our province," McNeil said. "There's a lot of people who travel in groups to go and do that."

But nearly 7,000 people disagree with McNeil and have signed an online petition.

They feel it's a pretty solitary activity, and for McNeil and his association, it's another blow to an already disappointing year.

"We honestly don't know how we are going to function moving forward," McNeil said. "We don't know when we can run fundraising events. It's disheartening to our members because the uncertainty is there on a daily basis."

For now the decision to delay stands, and disobeying it would mean breaking the law.