Concerns raised on P.E.I. about risk foreign bait might pose to ecosystem 

People in P.E.I.'s fishing industry are raising concerns about fish being imported to be used as bait or in the production of some types of alternative bait.

In March, the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans put a moratorium on commercial fishing for herring in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and mackerel across the East Coast, saying urgent action is required to allow those fish stocks to recover.

That moratorium led to fears of a shortage of bait for use in the lucrative Maritime lobster fishery.

Mark Prevost, the co-owner of the Bait Masters alternative bait company in Nine Mile Creek, P.E.I., appeared before a federal fisheries committee earlier this week.

He is calling on the federal government to regulate the kinds of fish being used for bait. 

"My concern now is that there's a lot more alternative bait companies, and other larger companies trying to make alternative baits, and that the ingredients could be dangerous," Prevost said. 

"The process needs to be changed in Canada, so it's somewhat regulated for alternative bait companies, so that we don't end up with an Asian carp problem, or an invasive species."

He also fears additives could reduce the health or size of fish populations.

Bait Masters produces what it calls bait sausages made up of 75 per cent fish byproduct and 25 per cent whole mackerel, for use in the lobster and crab fisheries.

Prevost says the Canadian government should adopt rules like the ones used in Maine, which is his company's biggest market. 

"The Maine Department of Marine Resources, they have a process before any bait gets put in the water to make sure that it's not going to affect anything," Prevost said.  "Risk assessments need to be done, and studies need to be done. And then on top of that, you need to see if it actually catches fish — a business viability study — and that costs money. It cost us $50,000 to do a field test, a proper field test." 

Prevost said companies should also have to show the chain of custody at all stages in the production process, to prove it can guarantee the purity of the ingredients and thus the final product.

Concerns about foreign bait were also raised by the P.E.I. Fishermen's Association (PEIFA) on Thursday during a presentation to the legislative standing committee on natural resources in Charlottetown. 

Executive director Molly Aylward called for foreign bait to be regulated to protect the Gulf of St. Lawrence ecosystem, as one of eight recommendations the PEIFA made to the committee.