Quote:
Originally Posted by numbskull
References please.
Certainly I may be wrong,...
As for "125 lb stripers all over the place 50-60 years ago", that is way off target
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You're not wrong in any way. The lead pollution comes from everywhere like you say. I was just laying out one of the many reasons we try to stop introducing lead in the water/sediments, which can be picked up by fish, birds and other aquatic life. It is toxic stuff.
Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci.%$56(8):%$1494-1503%$(1999)
Lead (Pb) and water
I was off target on the 50-60 years. More like 80-100 years. I remember seeing old B/W photos of New England commercial fisherman hauling in 100+ pound stripers from the 1920s/30s era. These photos were on old university library tin-type photos, and they obviously have not been uploaded, because I would have liked to find one to post here. I could only find a reference for one 125 pounder caught before turn of the last century (1891), but they were out there in big numbers before our fishing methods got so efficient.
"Maximum size: Striped bass generally grow to lengths of up to 59 inches and weights of 55 to 77 pounds. The largest striped bass on record is a 125-pound female caught off North Carolina in 1891."
FishWatch - Atlantic Striped Bass
My only motivation for commenting was because some posters seem to be PO'ed that they might have to spend more for non-lead fishing weights, and I have tried to offer up a justification for the thinking behind the rule making that may result in the ban of lead weights, if it comes to that, so that in the end maybe folks won't be so PO'ed about the switchover from lead. Simple as that.
Cheers.