Anti-Fishing Groups Attack Again with Petition for Lead Ban

Anti-fishing groups once again are attacking recreational angling by trying to force a ban on lead fishing tackle.

On Nov. 16, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was again petitioned by the Center for Biological Diversity and two other groups, requesting that the agency regulate the manufacture and sale of lead fishing tackle of certain sizes and uses under the toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). If approved, such regulation could result in a ban of lead sinkers, jigs, and other popular types of fishing equipment.

In that skirmish, more than 43,000 anglers sent their objections to EPA through Keep America Fishing. 
EPA dismissed a similar petition in November 2010.  The agency indicated that the “petitioners have not demonstrated that the requested rule is necessary to protect against an unreasonable risk of injury to health or the environment, as required by the TSCA.”

Gordon Robertson of the American Sportfishing Association says this:

“The sportfishing community is once again asking the EPA to rule on the side of scientific fish and wildlife population management and dismiss this unwarranted petition.

 “Such regulations will have a significant, negative impact on recreational anglers and the sportfishing industry, yet the petitioners lack credible science to back such a far-reaching request. They claim lead is threatening loons across the nation, but several studies, including one by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, have shown that loon populations are either stable or increasing throughout most of their range.”

Robertson adds, "This further demonstrates the need for a legislative solution to this growing threat to recreational fishing. In response, the co-chairs of the Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus have introduced the Hunting, Fishing and Recreational Shooting Sports Protection Act, which would prevent an overreaching ban of lead fishing tackle.

“With anti-fishing organizations trying to over-regulate fishing using whatever means they can, legislation is needed to protect traditional fishing tackle and ammunition from unjustified bans that will harm the economy and reduce participation in outdoor activities."

ASA will soon provide suggested comments at Keep America Fishing.

 Two of the three petitioners in this second petition also are engaged in a lawsuit against EPA’s dismissal of the original petition to ban lead fishing tackle.

“The petitioners are taking advantage of our federal government, ignoring the decision that the EPA made just a year ago and working around the ongoing litigation that they filed shortly after that decision,” says Robertson.

“This is a gaming of the system and ASA urges the EPA to deny the most recent petition and asks all anglers to voice their support for the Hunting, Fishing and Recreational Shooting Sports Protection Act.”

Activist Angler position: No scientific evidence exists to support a ban on lead fishing tackle, and I believe that anti-fishing groups use this issue to try to force us off the water. But I would like to see industry move away from lead in fishing tackle. I use tungsten almost exclusively and find it far superior to lead for a number of reasons. Yes, it is a little more expensive.

Want to Reduce Holiday Waste? So Do I . . .

Can’t argue with the useful information provided by our friends at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the following:

Reducing Holiday Waste.

Tips for Environmentally Friendly Holiday Gifts This Season.

But I would suggest that organizations like Recycled Fish, B.A.S.S., Trout Unlimited, and plenty of others do much the same at no direct expense to the taxpayer. And I guarantee that their costs for doing so are a fraction of what was paid to produce this information by the federal government.

In other words, I recommend that we “reduce holiday waste” by reducing EPA and other bloated bureaucracies that have put us trillions of dollars in debt.

Here’s why this is necessary if we are ever to have a healthy economy again, as explained by the Heritage Foundation:

Congress does not have a vault of money waiting to be distributed. Every dollar Congress injects into the economy must first be taxed or borrowed out of the economy. No new spending power is created. It is merely redistributed from one group of people to another.

Congress cannot create new purchasing power out of thin air. If it funds new spending with taxes, it is simply redistributing existing purchasing power (while decreasing incentives to produce income and output). If Congress instead borrows the money from domestic investors, those investors will have that much less to invest or to spend in the private economy. If they borrow the money from foreigners, the balance of payments will adjust by equally raising net imports, leaving total demand and output unchanged.

Every dollar Congress spends must first come from somewhere else.

CSC Members Move to Protect Lead Fishing Tackle

Members of the Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus (CSC) have introduced legislation to keep the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from banning lead fishing tackle and ammunition.

“It’s always important to find a common-sense balance between protecting the rights of hunters, anglers and outdoorsmen and protecting our environment and wildlife habitats for future generations,” said Rep. Mike Ross of Arkansas. 

“There is no credible scientific evidence that demonstrates traditional ammunition and fishing tackle pose any threat to human health or wildlife population and this legislation is needed to permanently address this issue once and for all.  I’m pleased to join this bipartisan effort and to work to stop the TSCA (Toxic Substances Control Act) petition, which is the most recent in a long string of attacks on our cherished hunting and fishing heritage.”

Jeff Crane, president of the Congressional Sportmen’s Foundation, added, “This issue is about protecting America’s sportsmen as a federal ban on lead ammunition and fishing gear would negatively impact industry and wildlife conservation funding by driving up costs and serving as a disincentive for Americans to get outdoors.”

I’m with the CSC on this, but I also encourage anglers to stop using lead, especially lead weights, voluntarily. Tungsten costs a bit more than lead, but it is far superior as a worm weight --- smaller, harder, and more sensitive.

Some water birds, including loons, have died from ingesting lead shot and weights, although no evidence exists that their use harms populations overall. Nevertheless, lead is a toxic metal and the less of it we deposit in our fisheries, the better.

Boat Owners: Get Active to Shape Management Policy

If you own a fishing boat, you need to get active in helping develop “management practices” for discharges from recreational boats. The fewer who get involved, the more likely it is that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will come up with requirements that are too heavy-handed and unnecessary to protect our waters from pollution.

"Management Practices would be methods, techniques, or tools which could mitigate any environmental impact of normal discharges into our waters," said Margaret Podlich, BoatUS vice president of Government Affairs.

 "They will vary according to boat type and what that vessel could potentially discharge. For example, the EPA is looking at engine maintenance and could create a management practice that requires the use of a bilge sock to soak up oil in your engine compartment. Of course, this couldn't apply to a rowboat. But it's important to understand they are looking at all recreational watercraft."

Go to this BOATUS site to learn more and make your voice heard.

Feds Target Power Plant Fish Kills

Power plants and factories kill billions of fish every year as they withdraw cooling water. The fish are trapped by screens or, if they are small enough, pushed through the screens.

Here’s what the Western Lake Erie Waterkeeper Association says about just one plant, First Energy Bayshore:

The Maumee River is the most biologically productive river in the Great Lakes and the power plant in the fall, according to power plant studies, pulls the entire Maumee River waters through the plant in a day.

The Bayshore power plant is also thought to be the largest fish killing plant in the Great Lakes, with company studies showing over 46 million fish per year caught against the screens and over 2 billion larval fish that go through the screens (More recent study from University of Toledo Lake Erie Center put the latter number at 12 billion for 2010) . . .

Continued