Little Fish, Big Problems

Dumping unused baitfish into waterways can introduce pathogens and invasive species. Researchers surveyed Minnesota anglers who use live baitfish and found about 20 percent dump unused bait in the water. Most don’t know the practice is illegal and harmful to aquatic environments.
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[@thylacine123]

There are many layers of damage not mentioned here about the live bait industry and its effects on aquatic natural resources. Even if 100% of unused bait is disposed of by law, there will still be transmission of pathogens and many live fish will still escape and survive. The organisms trafficked by the bait industry alongside the fish themselves are just as problematic. You can already find reproducing populations of common baitfish in almost any waterbody in MN with a public access, including designated trout management lakes that explicitly outlaw use of live minnows. Even in the depth of the BWCA you can find Fathead minnows and rusty crawfish spawning at nearly every portage. You want change then make it illegal to use any live bait not sourced from the same watershed with strict monitoring and enforcement statewide. Economics will not settle on this model on its own it needs to be law. People have become accustomed to convenient live bait at the filling station but in reality it takes two people 30 minutes to seine a local creek with a $50 net and voila you get better bait without the negative effects. This would allow legacy users to still fish with live bait (with some added effort/cost) and allow for localized bait markets to exist. It will also shift true economic value onto habitats and baitfish populations that are chronically undervalued and underutilized statewide. Allowing the current system to persist and relying on end users to follow the rules will simply not produce any results.