GBA 2022 - Summer Update

S upplying bait is big business in Ontario, and many anglers purchase minnows, leeches, crayfish, and other live bait species as alternatives to using artificial baits and tied flies. However, you may not be aware that new regulations recently came into law restricting the types of bait you are allowed to use depending on where you are fishing. Potential Risks of Using Live Bait Historically, Ontario’s fishing regulations were relatively unrestricted. For years, anglers faced few controls around where bait was purchased, or how and where it was used and disposed of. Unfortunately, this lack of regulation may have caused the spread of infectious fish diseases such as viral hemorrhagic septicemia (VHS). Live Bait Regulations for 2022 FISHERIES

By Bill Steiss, Chair, Fisheries Committee

leeches from one BMZ to another BMZ – the exception being that anglers are allowed to move bait into an adjacent Great Lake, and they can only move baitfish and leeches into an adjacent BMZ for the purposes of immediately disposing of them more than 30 metres from the water. Ontario and Canadian anglers having a valid sport or conservation fishing licence are permitted to catch local baitfish, leeches, and crayfish for personal use, but only in their home BMZ. You do not need to provide documentation, but you are subject to restrictions on the number and type of fish species collected.

Whether harvesting your own or purchasing live bait, you are allowed to have in your possession no more than 120 baitfish, 120 leeches, and 36 crayfish from a permitted list of 48 fish species. For details, see https://bit. ly/3Ou7qc9 . Anglers are required to use or dispose of commercially purchased live bait and leeches within two weeks. Bait containers cannot be emptied within 30 metres of a lake or river. As an alternative, anglers can freeze bait for later use.

Disposing of live and dead baitfish, fish eggs, soil from bait containers, or other material into the water may also have jeopardized the ecosystems of lakes and rivers for future fishing. As a result, various regulations and legislation have been enacted to minimize negative impacts to our aquatic ecosystems. New Bait Management Zones As part of Ontario’s work on developing regulations to support sustainable bait management, on January 1, 2022, the province created four new Bait Management Zones (BMZs). Anglers wanting to purchase and fish with live bait in one of the northeastern,

Northern redbelly dace baitfish

Commercial bait operators must now take a training course, administered by the Ministry of Northern Development, Mines, Natural Resources and Forestry (MNR), to learn about risks of harvesting and selling live bait, avoiding non-targeted species, and using MNR-prescribed logbooks to document bait transactions. In summary, Ontario’s new regulations controlling the use of bait should enable fewer opportunities for spreading invasive baitfish species through Georgian Bay, the North Channel, and its tributaries. The regulations are now active and should address many of the concerns raised in GBA’s 2020 submission to the province https://bit.ly/3OwR2rp , as well as those of the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters. With bait regulations now law, anglers are encouraged to report violations to MNR by calling toll-free at 1-877-847-7667.

central, or southern BMZs bordering on Georgian Bay and the North Channel are now required to comply with the following restrictions: Anglers choosing to fish outside of the BMZ of their principal residence are required to retain a receipt for live bait and leeches purchased from a commercial bait licence holder in the BMZ where they’re fishing. If anglers fishing within the BMZ of their principal residence purchase live bait and leeches locally from a licenced operator, they do not need to retain a receipt.

Anglers are not allowed to move live or dead baitfish and

www.georgianbay.ca

GBA UPDATE Summer 2022

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