In case you haven’t heard, the Ministry of Northern Development, Mines, Natural Resources and Forestry carried out a brand new Bait Management Strategy (BMS) at first of the yr. The laws divide the province into 4 Bait Management Zones (BMZs) and prohibit how anglers and industrial operators can use, transport, and harvest dwell or lifeless bait — which means baitfish and leeches, however not crayfish, frogs, or worms.
The authorities’s intent is to guard the well being of aquatic ecosystems, preserve assets, improve leisure advantages, and create insurance policies which are efficient and easy to implement.
Sounds good, proper?
Well, sure, and never so quick.
What’s complicated to me and plenty of others is the “effective and simple” half. Adding BMZs as a brand new layer to the province’s present map of Fisheries Management Zones (FMZs) doesn’t appear easy. I speak to many informal anglers and newcomers, and a few aren’t even conscious what FMZ they’re in.
Should the bottom widespread denominator of the unaware angler be how we set our regs? No, however including a brand new layer just isn’t a easy resolution.
Bait suggestions
We’ve heard probably the most suggestions from our readers concerning BMZ boundary points. The proven fact that anglers at the moment are solely in a position to harvest baitfish within the BMZ of their main residence is problematic for a lot of. Anglers don’t essentially dwell in the identical BMZ that they fish. Meaning in case your cottage or hunt camp is in a distinct BMZ than your private home BMZ, you possibly can’t catch your personal bait (it have to be bought), even in case you are solely fishing the lake your cottage is on. This can be a difficulty for anglers and bait outlets who reside or are positioned on or close to BMZ borders. There are different points too.
What I do like concerning the new technique is the main focus to preserve native populations of brook trout, with bait prohibitions on sure native lakes. But let’s get a provincial administration plan for brook trout first.
The higher compliance framework for industrial harvest is a welcome win too, which incorporates standardized coaching, and equipment.
My takeaway is that points included within the BMS are trending in the best route, however we haven’t seen full implementation. There’s extra that must be performed to guard the well being of our fisheries, make it practical to implement, and sensible for anglers — that begins with training and simplification, but additionally enhancing enforcement of long-standing bait regs we already had within the province.
Originally Published within the 2022 Fishing Annual.
Ray Blades is the Editor of Ontario OUT of DOORS and a lover of untamed locations and the life-giving magic of sizzling black espresso. Reach Ray at: ray.blades@oodmag.com; Twitter: @rayOODMAG; Instagram: @ray.blades