bait fish ban - please explain

[Macdrizzle]

can someone explain why in lakes where there is a bait fish ban, it's only targetting a minnow ban and not smelt/herring/sardines/suckers? Why does only the minnow get special treatment?

[airbornedeerhunter]

Smelts and herring are the saltwater species, the freshwater species are banned altogether as bait. Theory being, they, even if live would not survive in freshwater if dumped/released etc.

The baitfish referring to minnows/sticklebacks etc is generally to prevent people from live catching them as bait in one lake and then using them in lakes with no minnows existing naturally and releasing by accident/dumping them into a body of water where they may upset the eco-system.

Suckers fall into that category as well

Or at least that's how I understand it.

As for how that affects dead, frozen store bought minnows i haven't the foggiest. It's best to just read the regs for that lake and abide by it.

[damaltor]

Doesn't really answer your question, but it is not just minnows...

Bait Fish means any of the following:

suckers (family Catostomidae)
sticklebacks (family Gasterosteidae)
trout-perch (Percopsis omiscomaycus)
Iowa darter (Etheostoma exile)
minnows (family Cyprinidae), except carp, goldfish and the western silvery minnow.
NOTE: Fish (other than dead smelts, herring, gammarus shrimp and fish eggs) or crayfish purchased from pet stores cannot be used as bait fish.

Bait Fish may be used in waters that do not have bait bans or bait fish restrictions. Where fishing with bait fish is prohibited, other baits including smelts, herring, gammarus shrimp and dead fish eggs (e.g., preserved “salmon eggs”) may be used, provided a complete bait ban is not in effect for that waterbody.

[RavYak]

As mentioned suckers are also considered bait fish. Bait fish are defined as such.

bait fish means a fish of a species set out in Part 2 of Schedule 1.

Species of Bait Fish

Column 1 Column 2
Item Common Name Scientific Name
1 Iowa darter Etheostoma exile
2 Minnows, except carp, goldfish and western silvery minnow Family Cyprinidae
3 Sticklebacks Family Gasterosteidae
4 Suckers Family Catostomidae
5 Trout perch Percopsis omiscomaycus

http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/r...1.html#docCont

Smelt and Herring are not considered bait fish but are allowed under the following regulation.

Angling Restrictions
19 No person shall angle using

(g) any fish as bait, other than dead bait fish, dead smelt, dead herring, dead shrimp, dead fish eggs or the skin, fins or eyes of game fish caught by angling.

http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/r...2.html#docCont

Which for the record means other species such as anchovies and mackerel are not legal bait which is good to know since some fishing stores sell them as such... I haven't heard of people being charged for using them but you wouldn't have a leg to stand on if charged for doing so.

[millsboy79]

Previous statement of smelts being from the ocean is pretty much the deal. I just wonder why all ocean fish is not legal to use for bait where other bait is allowed

[kevinhits]

As long as any bait fish is dead...I see no issues...These classifications just confuse anglers

[Sundancefisher]

Originally Posted by airbornedeerhunter

Smelts and herring are the saltwater species, the freshwater species are banned altogether as bait. Theory being, they, even if live would not survive in freshwater if dumped/released etc.

The baitfish referring to minnows/sticklebacks etc is generally to prevent people from live catching them as bait in one lake and then using them in lakes with no minnows existing naturally and releasing by accident/dumping them into a body of water where they may upset the eco-system.

Suckers fall into that category as well

Or at least that's how I understand it.

As for how that affects dead, frozen store bought minnows i haven't the foggiest. It's best to just read the regs for that lake and abide by it.

Correct.

There is no confusion that smelt and herring are being moved around live.

Problem with just saying frozen is then anyone can claim they had frozen minnows if checked and just say they thawed when in fact they had live ones and only the dead ones are left.

Keeps the smart cheaters at bay.

[dmcbride]

I remember going out at night to catch smelts by the pail full with a dip net right off shore. (Lk. Simcoe, Ontario.) They are not just a salt water species.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smelt_(fish)

[anthony5]

Originally Posted by Macdrizzle

can someone explain why in lakes where there is a bait fish ban, it's only targetting a minnow ban and not smelt/herring/sardines/suckers? Why does only the minnow get special treatment?

Basically what the regs mean is no use of bait fish (suckers,minnows, stickle backs etc.) that may or may not be regular forage for the fish in certain waters. You may use bait, (smelt, herring, or whatever) but not the type of forage(bait fish) which may naturally provide food for the fish in these waters.

[airbornedeerhunter]

Originally Posted by dmcbride

I remember going out at night to catch smelts by the pail full with a dip net right off shore. (Lk. Simcoe, Ontario.) They are not just a salt water species.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smelt_(fish)

Yes, I clearly said that, freshwater sub-species are not permitted in Alberta.

[tool]

Originally Posted by dmcbride

I remember going out at night to catch smelts by the pail full with a dip net right off shore. (Lk. Simcoe, Ontario.) They are not just a salt water species.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smelt_(fish)

Yep, fond memories. Huge clouds of them!

Nothing beats a smelt sandwich.

[coyoteman]

Originally Posted by dmcbride

I remember going out at night to catch smelts by the pail full with a dip net right off shore. (Lk. Simcoe, Ontario.) They are not just a salt water species.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smelt_(fish)

Yep, good night fun,with a few cold ones, fill up a couple of 5gal buckets--those little buggers good eating.

[Parker Hale]

Originally Posted by Macdrizzle

can someone explain why in lakes where there is a bait fish ban, it's only targetting a minnow ban and not smelt/herring/sardines/suckers? Why does only the minnow get special treatment?

All you have to do is look at some of the once great little lakes around Cranbrook BC that are now over run by minnows or shiners. Perch are another problem, there is a lake outside of Cranbrook that used to have great Brookies and Bass, a number of years back some moron dumped in Perch and now the lake is over run with them.

[EZM]

Not only for the prevention of "smart cheaters" as Sundance mentions but salt water species have almost certainly been frozen and any of the most common parasites/pathogens/etc....of concern have been eliminated and/or at least controlled by being frozen.

Fresh minnows may not have been frozen and could carry something on them and have some potential to infect the watershed (like bagged or jarred freshwater minnows or live caught from an infected watershed).

That's part of it too.