2023 New York Laws › ENV - Environmental Conservation › Article 11 - Fish and Wildlife › Title 13 - Fishing › 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.