Bait and tradition and litter

[Saltheart]

Growing up , a typical fishing trip with one of my portogee uncles always began at the bait shop. More than anything , I remeber throwing sandworms and squid off the West Wall. In those days , there was no real recreational fishing as I know it. We went looking for supper. The hope was that for $2.00 in bait , you could come home with $10 in fish filets. The cost of the bait was a major expense (talking late fifties and early sixties). It was considered traditional to leave any remaining bait behind on the rocks for someone who came along to fish after you. That would save the next person the cost of bait and provide bait for younger fisherman who had little or no money in those days (when I was 12 , we collected bottles and got 2 cents apiece. Takes a lot of bottles to be able to afford bait). Anyway , her in lies the problem. People who leave their bait behind these days are accused of littering. I was wondering if people still leave their left over bait behind for the next guy or is that now a tradition that's gone its way. I'm thinking that leaving the bait itself is OK but that the wrappers and bags are the source of litter. I'll admit that in the old days we left the bait behind in its box (squid and worms always came in a box). So whats do people think about the tradition of leaving bait behind for the next guy?