The proposals recommended…

The proposals recommended will do little to achieve the desired goals. Further, they will alienate the angler and hunter community who has come to believe that it is again being targeted with unnecessary restrictions that negatively impact the pursuit of their recreation activities. The stated purpose and desired outcomes are out of sync. Restricting the broad scale movement of bait as proposed is not necessary and should be limited to those areas of the province where both aquatic invasive species and disease (such as VHS)have been identified and expansion of range will be detrimental to our native and naturalized fish populations. Restrictions on the movement of bait from the Great Lakes should be considered, although there may be some opportunity here for the development of a process that could be used to preserve these baitfish species in such a manner that they are not a risk to our fisheries when used as dead bait which would provide some economic return to affected harvesters and provide a source of bait for anglers to access. Even where invasive species have been found, we still have healthy fisheries. Some aquatic invasives have found themselves lower on the food chain and are utilized as prey by some of Ontario's most sought after game fish. In reality, there is nothing here that will provide greater certainty that the ecological integrity of parks will be achieved. Most of the recommended park types identified for restrictions are not physically separated from the surrounding landscape or watershed. There will be no barrier to the movement of species into or out of these parks identified in the proposal. In fact, it will become an enforcement nightmare since the vast majority of these parks are not readily identified on many maps used by the angling public. Further, there is little to no signage that would identify when one is entering a park. Since access to many waterway parks is available to the public, the movement of undesirables will continue to be possible through the movement of equipment (boats, canoes,etc.) and the restriction of imposed bait bans would have little consequence. Even waterway parks with boat access that I have used have no signage to indicate I am now in a park. Implementation of any recreation use restriction should be proposed on a case by case basis with broad public consultation under a park/conservation reserve management plan. The proposal as outlined would not-as desired- reduce the complexity of current bait use policies. The only increased certainty I see for the bait industry is that procuring, processing and distributing bait will become more difficult and in some instances will result in harvesters leaving the business and the angling public having issues in obtaining bait for fishing.

[Original Comment ID: 209831]