I just found this

[Muskiefool]

How expensive will those minnows be when the lakes have VHS ?? I don't understand loosening the restrictions before they even have a plan.

Wisconsin modifies rules to reduce fish virus

By TODD RICHMOND

Associated Press

Article Last Updated: 03/27/2008 03:28:46 PM CDT

Wisconsin state wildlife officials approved regulations Wednesday that would allow anglers to reuse bait minnows under certain conditions. The move clears the way for legislative approval of a permanent rules package to contain viral hemorrhagic septicemia.

The state Natural Resources Board this past fall approved emergency rules to contain VHS that prohibited moving live fish off any Wisconsin water. In December the board voted to make the rules permanent.

But anglers and the state Assembly Natural Resources Committee objected, saying the rules force fishermen to throw away expensive, unused bait minnows at the end of an outing even if they were fishing on VHS-free waters. The Assembly committee sent the rules back to the Department of Natural Resources demanding changes.

Mike Staggs, the DNR's fisheries management director, opened his explanation of the modifications before the board Wednesday by putting up slides of a lynch mob armed with torches and a flaming dummy with his photo superimposed on it.

"I can honestly say ... I've never seen more bipartisan opposition on a rule, and a lot of it wasn't professionally delivered," Staggs said, smiling.

In an attempt to show how expensive the bait can be and drum up support, he plopped a tub of four dozen minnows on the podium, telling the board they cost him about $10, or almost half the cost of a state resident's fishing license.

Under the rule revisions, anglers can reuse minnows purchased

from a Wisconsin bait dealer that haven't been exposed to lake or river water or will be used later on the same body of water. Bait dealers cannot harvest minnows from VHS-affected waters, however.

Other provisions in the rules remain unchanged, including the ban on moving any other live fish, requirements that boaters drain all their equipment and a permit system for commercial bait harvesters.

"If these are followed, you're not going to spread VHS," Staggs assured the board.

Board members criticized the changes, calling them unenforceable. No one could stop a fisherman from using the minnows on a different body of water, board member Gerald O'Brien said.

Staggs agreed the rule would operate on the honor system. Hopefully, he said, the minnow compromise will boost cooperation.

The current emergency rules expire April 7. Staggs said if lawmakers get what they want, they'll extend the rules until the permanent package is ready later this spring. If not, the rules will run out and the state will have no regulations to control VHS, he said.

[b1gf1sh1]

good reason to allow cast nets for harvesting your own bait. only bait from one water is used on that water. but that's so hard to enforce.... nothing is going to stop the spread. unless every water is closed to fishing and boating and dammed up and, and, and. best can be done really is to minimize it's effect.