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

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

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