63 

 HANDLING OF MINNOWS AND OPERATION OF HOLDING TANKS 



While many species of fish can be found in the 

 tanks of the bait dealers of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and 

 Michigan, certain species are more popular and are 

 hajidled in greater quantities. Those used most often 

 are listed in table 10. 



Table 10. — Fish used for bait in the Lake States 



Minnesota Wisconsin Michi gan 



Suckers x x x 



Northern creek chub x x x 



Northern pear dace x — — 



Pine-scaled dace x - - 



Northern red-bellied dace x x x 



River chub - - x 



Western golden shiner x x x 



Lake emerald shiner - x x 



Northern common shiner x x x 



Northern fat-headed minnow x x — 



Blunt-nosed minnow x x x 



Western mud minnow x x - 



These fish require different methods of propaga- 

 tion, but the handling techniques will be similar for 

 all. 



Causes of loss 



The bait dealer encounters his greatest loss when 

 handling and holding minnows. In 1942, theMinnesota 

 Bureau of Fisheries Research made a survey of the 

 methods used in handling and holding minnows to deter- 

 mine causes of loss with the object of reducing the 

 loss and thereby conserving minnows. The causes are as 

 follows : 



1. Minnows are often killed during seining 

 operations. Some are crushed in the net, and the small 

 ones are often left stranded on the beach at the con- 

 clusion of seining. Some are killed by slow and care- 

 less handling during sorting. The loss is extremely 

 high when "soft" minnows like the golden shiner are 

 handled during hot weather. 



2. Inadequate aeration and temperature control 

 for truck tanks cause a large loss during long hauls 

 and in hot weather. Part of this loss is probably due 



