Canadian law calls for border check-in

[Spiel]

Canadian law calls for border check-in

 

04/20/08

Eric Sharp - DETROIT FREE PRESS

 

 

 

Mich. — The night crawlers you buy for bait in Michigan nearly all come from a stretch of Ontario farmland between Windsor and Toronto that seems to be the annelid equivalent of the land of milk and honey.

 

But it’s a one-way trip for those worms, because once they enter our country they become persona non grata in their native land — it’s illegal for U.S. anglers to take night crawlers, baitfish, leeches, crayfish or any other live bait into Ontario.

 

That’s true even if the angler bought the bait from a facility that is certified to be disease-free and has the receipts to prove it, as is now required of anglers who buy live minnows to fish in Michigan waters.

 

Taking bait to Canada was one of the questions that arose last week after the U.S. government cleared up confusion about whether U.S. anglers must clear customs upon returning to the United States. The answer is that they don’t unless they land or tie up in Canada, and anchoring to fish doesn’t count as landing.

 

But that opened a whole new can of worms about whether U.S. anglers must check in with Canadian customs if the Americans are merely entering Canadian waters to fish and don’t tie up or land on that side.

 

The official word from the Canada Border Services Agency is that thousands of Michigan anglers who fish the Canadian sides of Lake Erie, Lake St. Clair and their connecting rivers are technically violating Canadian law because few, if any, check in with immigration authorities.

 

When asked whether U.S. boaters must clear Canada customs if they cross into Canadian waters and don’t tie up or anchor, Canada Border Services e-mailed the following: “People seeking to enter into Canada must report to the CBSA. [The law] states: Every person seeking to enter Canada must appear for an examination to determine whether that person has a right to enter Canada or is or may become authorized to enter and remain in Canada. This includes fishers who anchor, dock, or moor in Canadian waters.”

 

However, several Canadian Border Service and Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources employees said there was little likelihood that rule would be enforced in places with shared waters and where large numbers of boaters routinely cross the boundary line for fishing, sailing, waterskiing and other recreational activities.

 

The Canadians aren’t equipped to handle all those people, and inspecting boaters who are just casually passing through for a few hours isn’t what the law was designed for.

 

Canada is unhappy about a plan by the Bush administration to require all U.S. and Canadian residents to show a passport when entering the U.S. from Canada, starting in 2009.

 

The Canadian government believes that would reduce tourism from the United States and create unnecessary hassles for both U.S. and Canadian citizens. Any suggestion that the Canadian government would ignore border violations by U.S. anglers would not go down well with the average Canadian.