Thompson River Bait Ban Petition

Spreading the word for the boys up North. With years of dwindling runs of returning fish to the fabled Thompson River in British Columbia, the Thompson River Bait Ban makes more and more sense. Please take the time to read over the petition and sign if you feel it is the right thing to do for this precious resource.

To: BC Minister of Environment

To the Honourable Barry Penner, British Columbia Minister of Environment.

We, the undersigned, hereby request that a bait ban sport fishing regulation be implemented for Interior Fraser River steelhead prior to the next sport fishing opening. (Interior Fraser steelhead rivers include the Thompson, Chilcotin, Seton, Bridge, Nahatlach and all other rivers in the Interior of BC where steelhead are known to inhabit.)

The principals of a bait ban as outlined in the BC government document Bait Ban as a Management Tool (http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/fw/fish/regulations/docs/2001/bait_ban.pdf) demonstrate that such a regulation would be desirable among the angling public.

These steelhead
- are highly accessible;
- are vulnerable to capture; and
- every spawner counts.

Further,
- there is a need to protect juvenile fish;
- the steelhead population is small; and
- there is a need to spread the catchable supply of steelhead over more anglers.

According to the current BC Freshwater Fishing Regulations the definition of bait is: Bait is any foodstuff or natural substance used to attract fish, other than wood, cotton, wool, hair, fur or feathers. It does not include fin fish, other than roe. It includes roe, worms and other edible substances, as well as scents and flavourings containing natural substances or nutrients.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned