4725 Artificial Propagation Needed to Relieve Minnow ... - webapps8

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Common Shiner
Bluntnose Minnow
Redbelly Dace

About 2,890,000 minnows are
sold to fishermen each week.
Artificial Propagation Needed
To Relieve Minnow Shortage
A large percentage of tourists
come to Minnesota in order to
to enjoy the good fishing of
our 10,000 lakes. They arrive in such
numbers that the tourist business is
the third largest in the state.
The sale of minnows and
suckers for bait is an important
part of this business.
There are about 1,700 retail
and 150 wholesale dealers
in operation each year.
The 1,700 retail bait dealers have
an average sale of about one gallon
of minnows a week. The number of
minnows in a gallon varies according
to the size of the fish but 1,700 is
an average number. Therefore, about
2,890,000 minnows are sold to the
fishermen each week of the 17 or 18
week season. While this is a tremendous
figure, it does not include the
fish that are killed during seining
operations or those that are lost in
transportation and holding of the fish.
This heavy drain on the natural supply
of bait fishes has resulted in
many periods of acute minnow shortage.
The natural habits of the minnows
have contributed to this shortage.
John Dobie
Propagation
of
Minnows
ftumlte'i One
When spawning, these little fish congregate
along the lake shores and in
streams where they are easy to seine.
The bait dealer can then obtain all
that he wants but there is very little
demand for minnows early
in the spring. By midsummer
when the demand is
large, the fish have spread
over the lake and are difficult
to catch in large quantities.
Some dealers have
solved the problem by building or
leasing ponds large enough to hold a
supply from spring to midsummer.
The geographical distribution of
fishes has further complicated the
shortage of bait. The demand for
bait fishes is heaviest in the northern
resort area where the deep lakes and
cold streams do not produce large
quantities of minnows. Consequently,
large numbers must be hauled hundreds
of miles from the warm southern
lakes where the production is
high and the demand is low. Most
of the long hauls are during hot
weather and the losses are high.
A supply of minnows is necessary
to provide forage for the large game
fish populations of our lakes and is
37

38 THE CONSERVATION VOLUNTEER
so important to the sport fishing industry
that the Game and Fish Division
has developed a program of
regulations to safeguard this resource.
In lakes and streams where the taking
of minnows has endangered the
game fish populations, the seining of
minnows has been prohibited. Exact
specifications on net mesh size, type
of transportation equipment that can
be used, minimum aeration requirements
for transportation and holding
tanks, and maximum load capacity
for these tanks have been formulated
in order to eliminate much of the loss
that occurs when minnows are handled.
Some shallow lakes have been
set aside as minnow lakes to be managed
entirely for bait fishes. A few
have required stocking and others
needed to be closed for one or more
seasons but all are opened to commercial
fishing whenever the fish
population is large enough to justify
that action. The operation of these
lakes is an important step in improving
the bait situation.
If the present trend of closing waters
to the taking of minnows con-
JOHN DOBIE is an aquatic biologist with
the Bureau of Fisheries Research of the Division
of Game and Fish, with which he has
been associated since 1940. He previously was
employed by the U.S. Forest Service, the Wisconsin
Conservation Department, and as a
wildlife technician with the Minnesota ECW
program. He is one of the authors of Care
and Raising of Baits (see last paragraph of
article). This is the first of a series of four
articles.
tinues, the dealers may find themselves
in the same situation that exists
in Missouri where all the game
fish waters of the state are closed.
In the northern part of the state
where there are very few lakes that
can be managed entirely for minnows,
the bait dealer will find it necessary
to raise his own supply in
ponds. For many years dealers have
been raising bait fishes in both natural
and artificial ponds and some have
produced over 200,000 minnows per
acre.
There are many advantages in
minnow propagation.
(1) The dealer can raise the species
of fish most suited to his trade.
(2) The dealer can be more sure
of a regular supply of minnows of
suitable size.
(3) Since the minnows are always
available, they do not have to be
seined up in large quantities with
the resulting loss from handling and
holding of large numbers.
(4) The fisherman will be able to
obtain a better conditioned bait and
one that is more suited to his needs.
(5) The cost of raising minnows
will often be less than seining and
transporting them from distant waters.
In Minnesota, an increasing number
of dealers have become interested
in raising minnows, so the Game and
Fish Division has cooperated with
the Wisconsin and Michigan Departments
and the U. S. Fish and Wild-

ARTIFICIAL PROPAGATION NEEDED 39
life Service in putting out a bulletin
on the propagation of bait fishes. It
is written to present all of the available
information on the subject and
to help the beginner over his first
difficulties. There are many questions
that cannot be answered at the present
time, but when the answers are
available, the bulletin will be revised
to include them. Persons desiring to
receive this publication, when issued,
should address a request to be put on
the waiting list for Care and Raising
of Baits to the Bureau of Fisheries
Research, 355 Shubert Bldg., St.
Paul 2.
NATURE INTERPRETATION PROJECT
It has been definitely established that the best situations in which
to acquaint people with correct conservation relationships and nature
facts, generally are the localities wherein wild plants, wild animals,
and geological features naturally exist. With this in mind, it is recalled
that rich, undeveloped opportunities for visualizing vital conservation
concepts and conducting true nature interpretation projects exist in
many of our Minnesota state parks. Nearly two million people visit
these natural areas annually and few of the visitors possess more
than a small understanding of the conservation essentials, or more
than a minute knowledge of the fascinating nature lore commonly
found there. In order to utilize these educational opportunities, the
Minnesota Museum of Natural History, University of Minnesota, and
the Division of State Parks, Minnesota Department of Conservation,
are inaugurating a nature interpretation project this summer at
Itasca State Park. This work will be conducted by a resident park
naturalist from the Museum staff. The educational activities will be
offered through regularly scheduled field trips, self-guiding nature
trails, small museum exhibits, nature talks and film showings at Forest
Inn and the Camp ground. It is also planned to provide some nature
guide and nature lecture service at selected periods during the
summer in the St. Croix State Park.