Quote:
Originally Posted by numbskull
I think a VERY large paintbrush gets used to illustrate these environmental issues
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numbskull, since this is a “Striper” forum, and not an every-fish board, I should not have unnecessarily stirred the pot, because this lead weight thing is probably aimed more at the split-shot and twist-weight users in brackish and fresh waters, like the lead shot hunters were targeted, and not so much at saltwater sport fishermen.
I did that in jumping in on the lead issue that I am not an expert on either. Sorry about that. I usually deal with toxic soup scenarios like sediments near outfalls from sewage treatment plants and pharmaceutical plants. So I get to see the effects from combinations of dioxins, pesticides/herbicides, methyl-mercury, lead, poly aromatic hydrocarbons, etc. And the effects are tumors, parasites, lesions, blemishes, and other fish diseases. Messy looking stuff, but it is still hard to single out a single substance, like lead, because the different toxins work together to make a mess of our fish populations. I was just suggesting that since it is a given that lead in our aquatic environment is toxic, depending on ambient conditions, that it may be one of the reasons regulators want to pull the plug on banning lead fishing weights. If they don’t pull the plug, then that’s good for you guys. If they do make a change, I’m sure it will be explained more thoroughly than my apparently lame attempt.
I almost wish I didn’t get into this fisheries protection business. I can’t enjoy fishing like I did when I was a kid. Most everything is gone. 90% of the big spawners across species have been fished out this past 50 years, and it doesn’t look good down the road. Politicians have traded favors, bribes, whatever, to weaken or eliminate sound regulations, so now we don’t have much left out there.
Although I still go to the Race, like many guys in the profession, I stopped fishing for stripers about 1980, because anything I caught could be one less spawner in a fish population in trouble and going downhill, so I would get a guilty conscious about it. Fishing catch and release felt good for awhile, until we found out about half of what is released died anyway.
Sorry about making waves on your board guys. My bad.
