WHY BAIT-FISH PROPAGATION? 



With the shortage of minnows 

 in public waters now a reality and 

 strict regulations on minnow sein- 

 ing increasing each year, the bait 

 dealer is faced with the necessity 

 of rearing his supply of bait fishes 

 in ponds or other private waters. 

 Most dealers will find the change 

 from free-lance seining to propa- 

 gation of minnows in ponds dif- 

 ficult but worth while. This cir- 

 cular presents information on the 

 culture of bait fishes and is in- 

 tended as a guide for those inter- 

 ested in commercial propagation 

 of minnows. 



The growing number of fisher- 

 men each year has resulted in a 

 greater fishing load and an in- 

 creased demand for suitable bait 

 minnows. In an effort to satisfy 

 this demand, commercial minnow 

 dealers have seined lakes and 

 streams over wide areas and have 

 trucked their perishable commod- 

 ity great distances. Consequently, 

 dealers, fish culturists, sportsmen, 

 and biologists fear that the supply 

 of bait fishes has been greatly de- 

 pleted in many places, and that 

 the drain on this natural food of 

 game fishes may become a serious 

 problem. 



Several factors determine 

 whether seining minnow^s from 

 natural waters is a wasteful or 

 profitable undertaking. Seasonal 



fluctuations in the availability of 

 bait fishes are the rule; minnows 

 are not found in the same pools or 

 over the same shoals in our lakes 

 and streams at all times of the 

 year. These changes in the supply 

 of minnows are matched by in- 

 verse fluctuations in demand : there 

 are fewer calls for bait during 

 spring and fall when minnows are 

 plentiful, but a great demand ex- 

 ists during the warm summer 

 months when the minnows are dif- 

 ficult to catch. Some dealers have 

 constructed outdoor ponds or in- 

 door tanks large enough to hold 

 over thousands of fish from tJie 

 time of their greatest availability 

 to that of the greatest demand for 

 them; but the losses are so great 

 that this method is not recom- 

 mended as being either good busi- 

 ness or good conservation. 



The natural distribution of com- 

 mercially important minnow spe- 

 cies sometimes does not coincide 

 with the regions where these fish 

 are most in demand, and expensive 

 trips must be made great distances 

 to collect them. Environmental 

 factors may also restrict the sup- 

 ply of minnows in an area where 

 demand for bait is often great. 

 Frequently, the cooler, more-sterile 

 waters in the northern fishing re- 

 gions do not support the needed 

 quantities or species of bait fishes. 



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