I understand that reducing…

I understand that reducing the threat posed by invasive species is good. However, the southern boundary between BMZ A and BMZ D in northeastern Ontario should be farther south. Your proposed location divides a number of towns and a city and hence poses a problem for anglers, living near the boundary, who wish to move bait to another lake within the same BMZ but must travel into the adjacent BMZ to do so. At the least a very liberal buffer zone, i.e. 100 km wide should be allowed along this boundary. This would eliminate the need for physical landmarks to mark the boundary.

The problem of invasive species is not in the northern part of BMZ D. The boundary would better serve its purpose if located in the Marten River area and this location would not divide or disrupt as many anglers.

There should be a warning on every bait bucket and live well with respect to the possible hazards of dumping unused bait into waterways.

I understand that stickleback minnows are used as bait farther north, and this practice should continue to be allowed.

Bait is often frozen to be used at a later date, particularly in winter. Bait can be kept alive much longer than 2 weeks.

I strongly object to the banning of bait in Provincial Parks, particularly Waterways Parks. Many of these Waterways Parks have portions of the Waterway within the Park and portions not in the Park. The Obabika River Waterways Park for example has 1/2 of Lady Evelyn Lake within the Park and 1/2 not in the Park (how does the bait know where the boundary is)? Diamond Lake has a viable lake trout fishery and banning bait would make the winter fishing for lake trout practically futile as well as for the walleye fishery.

The portion of the Obabika River Waterways Park including Lady Evelyn Lake, Sucker Gut Lake and Willow Island Lake is a man-made reservoir for hydro power generation. The same applies to Long Lake in the Englehart-Charlton area which is in and out of the Waterway Park.

These Parks contain tourist camps, private cottages (patented land), remote cottage sites (LUPs), therefore, the so called integrity is not compromised.

Bait has always been allowed in Parks. These Parks went through a lengthy and comprehensive planning process when they were created. You are using the Bait Review Policy to change the rules in Parks. If not illegal, it is certainly unethical and underhanded.

I am pleased that Personal Harvest of bait will continue to be allowed and that the bait can be moved in BMZs A, B, C and D beyond the water body where it was caught. I can remember as a kid going to the local hardware store to purchase a piece of window screen and dipping minnows with it. A sport fishing licence should be all that is required to do this. Documentation is unnecessary. The CO's time can be better spent catching real poachers. Bait which is personally harvested in Lake Temiskaming should continue to be allowed to be moved in land into adjacent BMZs A and D.

Bait should continue to be allowed to be stored in Parks for the same reasons as I have mentioned above regarding the use of bait in Parks and in Waterways Parks in particular.

[Original Comment ID: 209770]