Recreational fishing is a…

Recreational fishing is a valued Canadian Heritage activity, with over 80% of anglers in Ontario using live bait. The success rate of fishing with live bait is much higher verses any other type of bait. Yes, fish can be caught without live bait but lets keep people catching fish!

The bait industry is a 20 million dollar industry, however recreational fishing reels in 2.2 billion dollars into the economy. There are approximately 1.2 million people that fish in Ontario.

The proposed regulations will affect not only business owners like myself that have made the live bait industry their job and livelihood, but also the six people we provide employment to including students with summer jobs, the community events we sponsor, and our customers.

The proposed regulations does not make sense; this is the gateway to a complete ban of live bait. The proactive approach to prevent the spread of invasive species should continue with more educaion: No one wants to destroy habitat for fish, some people do not know better, we need to educate more!

Don't dump your bucket programs and stickers are good but this could be a requirement on every bait bucket or bag of live bait sold. In addition, boat washing stations could be a good preventive measure to prevent the spread of invasive species. More regulations and enforcement measures are needed to ensure boaters wash their boats before entering a new body of water. In addition, online courses could be offered as well for individual anglers who wish to catch their own live bait as another preventive measure to prevent the spread of invasive species. Lastly, further education for bait harvesters and dealers is welcomed.

I believe involving bait harvesters and dealers in more of the changes in the industry, would be beneficial for both parties. The Ministry of Natural Resources & Forestry (MNRF) could gain valuable knowledge from bait harvesters as we are the ones trapping bait across the province. I realize that six commercial bait fish harvesters/ tourist dealers were part of the stakeholders committee, however, at the information meeting held in Kingston on May 29, 2017, Scott Gibson stated that the MNR makes the final decisions on the proposal and that this was just an information session.

The Wildlife Canadian Society (WCS) states their objective is to ban all live bait in Ontario, which raises concerns that the proposed changes will lead to a complete ban of live bait in Ontario, as WCS was a stakeholder consulted in the proposal of the regulations. Similarly, the Ontario Federation of Hunter and Anglers (OFAH) was also a stakeholder, however, Tom Brooke from the OFAH stated in a recent article in the Ontario Out of Doors that the proposed regulations on live bait are too restrictive.

The proposed changes will create frustration by anglers to use live bait, to find live bait available in the Fish management Zone (FMZ) that they are fishing in or transportation is permitted. Anglers travelling through the Hastings County area that fish in FMZ 15 and further North at times will require travelling past their destinations to purchase live bait. Presently Bancroft is the closest live bait available to Steenburg Lake. Currently many of the anglers travelling Highway 7 purchase bait and other products from my retail store. The changes will reduce my customer base by approximatley 30%; reducing my live bait sales and other spin off sales opportunities.

The quality, quantity and affordability of live bait will also be affected by the proposed changes. The supply and demand will also be affected. We currently harvest many of our own bait fish and leeches, I know If I will not be able to purchase bait from our current dealers in FMZ 15 and North we will not have the continued quality and quantity of live bait and leeches required. This will put strain on our business even with the predicted loss of customers.

At different times throughout the year we are faced with the elements mother nature gives us. In years past the ice conditions vary and we have more live bait than we can sell in our area in the winter, which is when we wholesale. The established business contacts we have are to the North of the proposed FMZ transport area. Without the possibility of this market, we could not economically survive when there is no market locally.

The requirement of anglers carrying a receipt for 2 weeks for the live bait in their possession then disposing of the unused live bait is wasteful and would probably cause dishonesty. This will be a paper work burden for retail outlets, require more enforcement and place a huge responsibility on anglers . Most people are honest but what’s to say a 2 week expiry on a receipt can not be used for other bait self harvested or purchased elsewhere after the initial bait is used. How is this going to be enforced? Who will the Conservation Officer believe? These are valid concerns with the possibility of a dermit infraction system being proposed to the live bait industry, a situation like this could affect the business.

If live bait is self harvested by the angler requiring a special license, log and transport restrictions this will limit their rights and success in catching their own bait. Most bait fish are not commonly caught in lakes or river where predator fish are found. They are caught in streams , creeks and ponds that would require transportation that the regulations do not permit in the local areas.

I have not seen any information for further funding for enforcement to regulate the proposed regulations. How does this all work without anyone to enforce?

The reduction of 17 species of minnows will possibly reduce the quantity of live bait available to harvest, creating supply and demand problems. What about the VHS virus zones that are in place now south of the 401, how does this change to now not be a concern?

There are many businesses including mine that have been harvesting and/or selling live bait for many years, we have had our harvesting license for almost 30 years. The proposed changes will negatively impact my business, the impact of the regulations will directly cost loss of income resulting in reducing staff and possibly being forced to close. Customer service alone will not bring in the customers in that we see now with live bait.

We care about the environment, we love the outdoors, we fish and hunt, we love our business.

[Original Comment ID: 209935]