The MNR and Live Bait Concerns

I recently received a letter and I’m guessing many of our fellow members received the same letter
concerning the issues related to using live bait in our lake.

Approximately four weeks ago a group of young men came to our resort to go ice fishing.  They brought their own bait and like I always do, I asked them where they purchased it.  They told me they purchased the bait in Hamilton.  I explained the rules to them about not wanting bait to be used in Lake Nipissing that had been harvested south of Bracebridge due to VHS.  To my surprise, they informed me that they had contacted the MNR’s head office and asked permission.  Being the sceptic that I am I asked them to redial the phone number.  They did and I listened while they asked if they could bring bait from southern Ontario to Lake Nipissing.  I was floored to hear the answer, MNR’s head office said yes.  No explanation about VHS or perhaps it would be best to contact the Resort you are staying with.  I took the phone from the young man and identified myself to the MNR.  I explained that if we had to follow specific rules to ensure our lake is not contaminated with VHS then why wouldn’t they at least ask callers to call the MNR’s local office?  The answer I received was nothing more than silence and I suggested I had wasted our time and I would dispose of the $50 worth of bait the young men had transported from the south and at my cost, supply them with bait approved for our lake.

I then followed up with our local office and the answer was, they are working on it.  My response was, “how long does it take to make a simple decision to protect our lake from VHS”.  Our bait suppliers have been burdened with the additional cost to have the bait tested, yet the MNR does not encourage our sports fishermen to follow the rules. 

Frustrated.......