N.Y. Environmental Conservation Law § 11-1315: Taking and sale of bait fish

§ 11-1315. Taking and sale of bait fish.

1. a. Except as provided in subdivision 2, no person, without first

obtaining the appropriate license from the department, shall take for

sale as bait, nor sell as bait the following fish: minnows (family

Cyprinidae), except carp or goldfish; top minnows or killifish (family

Cyprinodontidae); mudminnows (family Umbridae); darters (family

Estheostomidae); sticklebacks (genus Eucalia); tadpole stone cats

(genera Noturus and Schilbeodes); smelt or ice fish (Osmerus mordax);

alewives, saw bellies or blueback herring (family Clupeidae); suckers

(family Catostomidae).

b. Fish taken pursuant to such license shall be used only for bait in

hook and line fishing. All carp, goldfish, and lamprey larvae (family

Petromyzonidae) taken in nets operated pursuant to such license shall be

destroyed immediately.

2. No license under this section is required to take for sale as bait

or to sell as bait any marine species of fish taken in the marine

district. A minor under the age of sixteen years may, without a license,

sell as bait such of the fish listed in subdivision 1 as he has lawfully

taken by angling.

3. Bait fish named in subdivision 1, when otherwise permitted by law,

may be taken for use or sale as bait by:

a. angling,

b. nets when permitted by subdivisions 4 and 5 of this section, or

c. stunning in the case of tadpole stone cats. "Stunning" means

tapping a stone with implement or other stone.

4. a. Fish named in subdivision 1, taken for use as bait for personal

use and not for sale, may be taken:

(1) in waters not inhabited by trout, by means of a seine or scap net

not larger than thirty-six square feet, and

(2) in any waters of the state by means of a glass, plastic or wire

trap not more than twenty inches in length, having no wings or leaders

and having an entrance not larger than one inch in diameter, and such

trap shall bear legibly at all times when in the water the name and

address of the operator.

b. In Keuka Lake, Canandaigua Lake, Cayuga Lake, Seneca Lake, Canadice

Lake and Hemlock Lake, alewives or sawbellies taken for such purpose may

also be taken by gill nets measuring not more than twenty-five feet in

length, having a mesh not larger than one inch.

c. Nets for taking bait fish shall not be hauled after sunset or

before sunrise, except as permitted by the department.

d. Fish named in subdivision 1 may be taken for personal use or sale

as bait under license from the department in the waters of the Hudson

river by means of cast nets not exceeding ten feet in diameter.

5. Fish named in subdivision 1, taken for sale as bait under license

from the department, may be taken by the types of nets specified in such

license. In issuing such licenses the department may permit the use of

nets of metallic or plastic mesh, notwithstanding the definition of

"net" as contained in section 11-0103 of the Fish and Wildlife Law.

6. a. Carp, goldfish, and lamprey larvae (family Petromyzonidae) shall

not be used as bait or sold for bait.

b. No person shall take smelt for bait from Upper and Lower Saranac

lakes or Lake Champlain, except by angling.

c. Nets and traps for the taking of bait fish shall not be placed or

operated within one hundred feet of any dock, pier, or boat landing on

the St. Lawrence River without the consent of the owner.

7. The license provided for in subdivision 1 shall be issued only to

residents of this state and to residents of a state in which residents

of this state may be licensed, or are permitted without license, to take

such fish for sale as bait.

8. This section does not supersede any provision of section 13-0343

restricting the use of nets in certain waters of the marine district or

subdivision 2 of section 11-1307.