I completely disagree with…

I completely disagree with the new proposal for baitfish management. I am an avid hunter and angler. I love to fish every single available weekend I have. I live in Orangeville Ontario, and very rarely do I fish within my FMZ. I am a frequent angler in zone 18 and zone 15. I truly believe my local baitshop will go out of business with this new proposal. I also believe the idea of keeping receipts for baitfish purchased is ridiculous, on many levels and in many ways. We need to stop and prevent invasive species at the source, and instead put a restriction on the allowable bait that is possessed. When you refer to people catching their own bait, and using it in different water bodies, I understand where you are coming from on your outlook on that topic. No one wants to see pike minnows used in a bass only lake. That is totally understandable. But purchasing shiners or mud minnows in Orangeville, and preventing the use of them in Parry sound or Napanee, is absolutely ridiculous. It will shut down small business, and create more of a workload on our MNR officers than there already is. We have enough senseless rules in this province and in this country, and we definitely don't need to be adding more. Educating anglers is the best measure. Us anglers care more about sustaining fishing opportunities than anyone else in this province, that I can guarantee you. Restricting purchase of bait, and more importantly, WHERE you purchase bait, will do far more harm than any good the MNRF thinks it will do.

[Original Comment ID: 209662]