Bait Regulations Seek To Curb Fish Disease, Invasive Species

LANSING, Mich. (AP) - Michigan has new regulations about bait that people catch themselves as officials seek to curb fish diseases and aquatic invasive species.

The Natural Resources Commission recently decided that such bait now must be used within the same body of water, or connecting bodies of water, where it was captured.

For example, if bait is captured in a small stream that is connected to a lake or network of other rivers and lakes, it can be used in any of those bodies of water.

Todd Grischke, assistant chief of the DNR Fisheries Division, says in a statement that the ecological and economic impact of diseases and aquatic invasive species is "very significant" in Michigan and the Great Lakes region. He says the updated regulations provide added protection.