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Lead ban may not do job (followup)
Josey1
Member Posts: 9,598 ✭✭
Lead ban may not do job
Feel good law?
"Only 14 of 222 loon carcasses examined by the National Wildlife Health Research Center between 1975 and 1991 showed signs of lead poisoning."
Did 300,000 Rod & Gun club members support the law?
"Among the endorsers of sinker-sale restrictions was Howard Cushing, the president of the New York State Conservation Council, which purports to represent more than 300,000 rod-and-gun club members on issues affecting sportsmen."
You know their will be pressure to IMPROVE the law. As I said in the past, keep an eye on this one, it has the potential to cause a lot of hardship for both fishermen and hunters, as more then one group wants to ban lead in both sports.
Lead ban may not do job
J. MICHAEL KELLY - Syracuse.com
Gov. George Pataki, state lawmakers, environmentalists and even a few prominent sportsmen got together last week to declare the demise of lead fishing sinkers, but the celebration may have been a tad premature
The cheers and back-pats followed Pataki's signing of legislation that prohibits the sale of lead sinkers weighing half an ounce or less, starting in May 2004.
The new law is designed to prevent loons and other water-loving birds from getting lead poisoning by ingesting sinkers that have detached from fishing lines. In fact, it's a feel-good measure that may wind up being more hurtful to anglers and tackle shop owners than helpful to wildlife.
Although Pataki said the legislation will "promote responsible fishing through the use of non-toxic sinkers," the law does not address the use of lead weights, but simply bars their sale in New York state.
Weights made of steel, tin or bismuth currently cost two or three times as much as comparable-sized lead sinkers.
The casual fishermen who purchases only a small amount of tackle annually probably will shrug off the extra dollar or two he's forced to spend on a packet of 50 split shot, but anglers who go through hundreds or even thousands of sinkers annually are bound to do some comparison shopping.
Since only a handful of other states have any restrictions on lead, many New Yorkers will sinker-shop by catalog once the new law takes effect.
Then again, the lead-sale ban could spawn a new cottage industry. Several national tackle wholesalers sell lead-sinker kits for those who like to tinker with toxic metal in the privacy of their basement workshops. Wouldn't it be weird if a law aimed at saving animals from lead-poisoning increased the incidence of lead-poisoned humans?
The real irony is that the lead-sale ban may not do all that much for wildlife. Ward Stone, the Department of Environmental Conservation's wildlife pathologist, is a true believer on the issue, as 15 of the 72 dead loons he autopsied in a 27-year period were lead victims. Yet, only 14 of 222 loon carcasses examined by the National Wildlife Health Research Center between 1975 and 1991 showed signs of lead poisoning.
Such conflicting data didn't deter a broad range of supporters from standing up with Pataki.
Among the endorsers of sinker-sale restrictions was Howard Cushing, the president of the New York State Conservation Council, which purports to represent more than 300,000 rod-and-gun club members on issues affecting sportsmen.
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
Feel good law?
"Only 14 of 222 loon carcasses examined by the National Wildlife Health Research Center between 1975 and 1991 showed signs of lead poisoning."
Did 300,000 Rod & Gun club members support the law?
"Among the endorsers of sinker-sale restrictions was Howard Cushing, the president of the New York State Conservation Council, which purports to represent more than 300,000 rod-and-gun club members on issues affecting sportsmen."
You know their will be pressure to IMPROVE the law. As I said in the past, keep an eye on this one, it has the potential to cause a lot of hardship for both fishermen and hunters, as more then one group wants to ban lead in both sports.
Lead ban may not do job
J. MICHAEL KELLY - Syracuse.com
Gov. George Pataki, state lawmakers, environmentalists and even a few prominent sportsmen got together last week to declare the demise of lead fishing sinkers, but the celebration may have been a tad premature
The cheers and back-pats followed Pataki's signing of legislation that prohibits the sale of lead sinkers weighing half an ounce or less, starting in May 2004.
The new law is designed to prevent loons and other water-loving birds from getting lead poisoning by ingesting sinkers that have detached from fishing lines. In fact, it's a feel-good measure that may wind up being more hurtful to anglers and tackle shop owners than helpful to wildlife.
Although Pataki said the legislation will "promote responsible fishing through the use of non-toxic sinkers," the law does not address the use of lead weights, but simply bars their sale in New York state.
Weights made of steel, tin or bismuth currently cost two or three times as much as comparable-sized lead sinkers.
The casual fishermen who purchases only a small amount of tackle annually probably will shrug off the extra dollar or two he's forced to spend on a packet of 50 split shot, but anglers who go through hundreds or even thousands of sinkers annually are bound to do some comparison shopping.
Since only a handful of other states have any restrictions on lead, many New Yorkers will sinker-shop by catalog once the new law takes effect.
Then again, the lead-sale ban could spawn a new cottage industry. Several national tackle wholesalers sell lead-sinker kits for those who like to tinker with toxic metal in the privacy of their basement workshops. Wouldn't it be weird if a law aimed at saving animals from lead-poisoning increased the incidence of lead-poisoned humans?
The real irony is that the lead-sale ban may not do all that much for wildlife. Ward Stone, the Department of Environmental Conservation's wildlife pathologist, is a true believer on the issue, as 15 of the 72 dead loons he autopsied in a 27-year period were lead victims. Yet, only 14 of 222 loon carcasses examined by the National Wildlife Health Research Center between 1975 and 1991 showed signs of lead poisoning.
Such conflicting data didn't deter a broad range of supporters from standing up with Pataki.
Among the endorsers of sinker-sale restrictions was Howard Cushing, the president of the New York State Conservation Council, which purports to represent more than 300,000 rod-and-gun club members on issues affecting sportsmen.
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878