At the Capitol, lawmakers started an unsuccessful push in 2017 to allow the importation of minnows from other states - a potential relief valve for the state's 233 licensed bait dealers discredited by the DNR due to the risk of importing invasive fish species and fish disease. For a combination of reasons, supply has trended downward since 2017 while demand has grown. "Everything is going to be really short this year,'' he said. Looking ahead to summer and the traditional fishing opener on May 13, Koep's outlook for the season is gloomy. "I have a bait shop in Duluth … he's wanted bait for three weeks now and I don't have a minnow to give him,'' said Koep, who sells to about 75 individual bait shops and a network of wholesalers who transport minnows all over Minnesota. As one of the state's largest suppliers of fatheads and other minnows, he has joined ranks with competitors in asking the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to help them overcome a worsening shortage of live bait. So, it wasn't good news last week when owner Marshall Koep said his company's tanks were empty. in Otter Tail County is ground zero for minnows. – For hundreds of bait shops across Minnesota, Urbank Live Bait Co.
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