Spring Creek Buckets

[Foozer 194]

Hello:

During and excursion for Steelhead in the Spring Creek area, we came upon a bucket which was a tied down to a stump, was weighted to keep it submerged, and had holes drilled in it to allow for water to pass through.

Naturally it looked to be a attempt to keep bait alive. However, upon looking more closely at it, it was clear that all of its contents were dead and had been for a good long while.

Upon a second visit to the same area, I have come across two more weighted, submerged, drilled, and tied down buckets. Each of these two additional buckets had a number of creepy crawly's furiously moving about the outside of the pail hinting that the contents are rotting.

The first pail was found at the culvert near the farmhouse, on Meadowbrook Lane. The next two are tied to a bush on the banks of Spring Creek at the intersection of Valley Road, and Coldwater Lane.

It's a shame to see such a waste. The first pail we seen easily had 12 - 15 dozen minnows all dead, and I’d suspect the others do as well.

Not sure what other forum I could have posted this info in, but this seemed like the most logical place. I was wondering if this would be termed a resource violation?

Thanks

[Guest MNR]

Under the Ontario Fishery Regulations 2007 only a person who holds a commercial bait fishing licence can catch and retain or possess more than 120 baitfish.

If the buckets were being used by a commercial operator, there is a legal requirement for them to indicate on the equipment their name or licence number and it must be visible without having to raise the equipment from the water.

No person can release live bait or live baitfish or empty the contents or a bucket used to hold baitfish into any water or within 30 metres of any water.

Depending what species of fish or crayfish were in the bucket, no person is allowed to possess for use as bait, an invasive fish or any live fish that is not a species of baitfish.

As far as the spoilage is concerned, the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act 1997 it is a violation for any person to allow a sportfish that is suitable for human consumption to spoil.

In this situation the officer would have to be able to tell how many and of what species the fish were. He/she would also have to know who placed the bucket in the creek.

We also make use of game cameras.