Below is a copy of a post I put up on SOL, due to a debate I'm having on another board. Those that received my samples at the plug building party, have the only Menhaden scented baits I'll ever pour. Those have been sitting around for years, because someone was kind enough to point out the "Fish Oil" I used for scent was directly fueling the bunker decline. I've still got the bottle and don't use it, ironically it's not affected my success
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Wev'e all seen everyone come together on the SOL board for legislation, regulation of the annual bunker catch would be the next best thing, but what about us consumers?
I'm in a debate on another board, over the subject of using "Fish Oil" as scent in commercially marketed plastic fishing lures. The manufacturer claims they use "farm raised" Menhaden, yet in hours and hours of searching the web, I've yet to come up with any source. Does anyone know if a viable "farm raised" processed Menhaden Fish Oil is available?
Then I spent the next several hours reading reams of crap on the Omega Protein site and other related sites. The bottom line is that the above segment represents a very small percentage of the "market", would we the consumers make a difference, by not buying plastic baits scented with Menhaden? The bulk of the market clearly lies elsewhere, should we use supply and demand anyway and not buy from the guy using fish oil?
I'm mean let's face it, you don't ask the restaurant owner if the prime rib you'd like to order was raised with feed supplimented with fish oil. You might be able to get a satisfactory answer from Fido's pet food manufacturer about the fish byproducts, but does Fido suffer by switching brands. Is there anything we as consumers can hope to do, buy consciously thinking about our buying decisions.
Do we start questioning our charter captains about the chum slick they just started and whether or not it's based in part on fish oil? Do we start writing the vitamin manfacturers before purchasing product that doesn't clearly specify what fish the byproducts or oil came from? How much of this information is the company likely or liable to share with Joe Public?
Sorry for the ramble. I've read with interest the multiple threads on the subject, but it all revolves around legislation and regulation. Yes those are probably the most effective toola at our disposal, but are they the only ones?
Call me curious?
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