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New York Bans Lead Sinker Sales

Josey1Josey1 Member Posts: 9,598 ✭✭
edited May 2002 in General Discussion
New York Bans Lead Sinker Sales

ALBANY, New York, May 10, 2002 (ENS) - New York has passed a law that will ban the sale of lead fish sinkers throughout the state, helping to prevent waterbirds from being injured or killed from exposure to toxic lead.
"The toxic effects of lead sinkers are a threat to waterfowl, especially loons, and these new restrictions will help protect birds and other wildlife," said Governor George Pataki, who signed the bill Wednesday. "Fishing is a popular sport in all areas of New York and this law will promote responsible fishing through the use of non-toxic sinkers."

The law bans retail sales of lead fishing sinkers weighing one-half ounce or less. Fishing sinkers are small devices anglers often attach to a fishing line to sink the line below the surface of the water.

Lead sinkers that are lost or become detached from a fishing line are often mistaken for food or grit by waterbirds such as ducks, geese, swans, gulls and loons. Birds ingesting lead sinkers may become sick or die from lead poisoning, or may behave strangely due to toxic effects of the shot, increasing their risk of death from exposure or predators.

For the past several years, DEC has notified anglers of the potential threat to waterfowl from the use of lead sinkers and the availability of non-lead alternatives. Fishers will be allowed to continue using lead sinkers they already own, or reuse sinkers found on shore.

"Sportsmen and women strongly support this measure to prevent waterfowl and other wildlife from being accidentally injured by lead sinkers," said Howard Cushing, president of the New York State Conservation League. "By banning lead sinkers at the point of sale, this will allow stakeholders to pick up and recycle any lead sinkers they find on shores without violating the law."

Many of New York's neighboring states also banned the sale and/or use of lead sinkers, which is expected to limit the availability of these sinkers and promote production and sale of non-lead alternatives.

"This new law is a triumph of cooperation between environmentalists, anglers and committed lawmakers, all of whom were needed to secure the legislature's and governor's approval for the lead sinker ban," said Bernard Melewski, acting executive director of the Adirondack Council. Working together, we will have saved the lives of thousands of loons, herons, swans, geese and other water birds by the end of the decade, and thousands more as the generations pass."


http://www.ens-news.com/ens/may2002/2002L-05-10-09.html#anchor10



"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

Comments

  • pikeal1pikeal1 Member Posts: 2,707
    edited November -1
    Just a bit of overkill if you ask me. Guess pretty soon people won't be able to balance their tires either...because if one of those lead weights come off and a bird eats it, well...we all know what'll happen.
  • MrNathanLeeMrNathanLee Member Posts: 68 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    or when it does come off it could fly and hit someone and kill em so we beter start baning those but we will do it slowly first we will start by not letting a tire have more than 4 weights on it unless it was made before the ban takes effect then we will ban large ones in some stated but make it so other states can have em but restrict the amount of weights you can have on a tire while your on the road to about 3 but when you are using your tires for of roud perpouses you can have as many as you want (assuming thats under 10 of corse cause of the other ban) i think you guys get my point

    Gun control is being able to hit your target!

    Enemy Down
  • Bushy ARBushy AR Member Posts: 564 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    A good idea in my opinion.Other metals can be used which do not pollute drinking water supplies.After all,we all need clean water to survive.Used motor oil is another source of contamination.
  • dobieman0690dobieman0690 Member Posts: 148 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    lead is a natural occuring mineral why is everyone upset about using it for fishing it would take millions of pounds of sinkers to polute the waters of our nation
  • dakotashooter2dakotashooter2 Member Posts: 6,186
    edited November -1
    Maybe someone knows more than me but I have cut open the gizzards of many waterfowl and have rarely found gravel any larger than size 8 or 9 shot and usually not even that large. And while diver ducks and similar waterfowl may go to the bottom and pick up some gravel off the bottom of lake puddle ducks don't go down that deep and usually do this activity on the shoreline. Lead is heavy. Wave and current action will cause it to be buried under lighter debris (mud sand gravel, etc). Waterfowl like other animals know what is food and what is not. I have seen animals of all kinds spit out items that are not food. The digestive system for waterfowl works quickly. If a sinker was swallowed it would probably pass through the system within several hours. I wonder why we don't find thousands of dead birds on or near trap ranges. I'm not saying it can't or doesn't happen just that the common occurance is unlikely.
  • RembrandtRembrandt Member Posts: 4,486 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    The reason lead shot was banned for waterfoul hunting was that "bottom feeding" waterfoul would pick up the shot as they ate in shallow wetlands....this is not a problem with deeper waters and oceans. The size of the sinkers may or may not be swallowed by most ducks. The law prohibiting lead sinkers is much in line with the lead shot issue. Once it gets into the system of the bird, the lead posioning is transmitted onto eggs and predators.

    Then there is the issue of lead "leaching" or decomposeing in water and affecting drinking water etc. The EPA has been studying this for decades in Leadville, Colorado. Here water supplies are in direct contact with lead from the mines. To date no evidence has been has been linked that leaching is a problem in their drinking water. Leaching can be a problem depending upon the soil ph factor and amount of rain (a ph factor of 7 is neutral). I had the opportunity to talk with Steven Petrucelli (Enviromental Engineer for the U.S. EPA), he has dealt with the litigation of the New York Athletic Club's shotgun ranges and the Westchester County Sportman's Center. I only bring this up to point out that lead sinker rules are simply following precedent of lead shot regulations. There has been years of research and data collected on which this decision was based.
  • He DogHe Dog Member Posts: 51,593 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I know we all like to think the old ways are best, but why as outdoors people (ain't that PC?) would we not want to make changes in the best interest of the natural ecosystems we enjoy being in? Given that there are good alternatives, why not use other things for sinker just as we use other shot?

    Conservationist does not mean tree hugger, no entity has done more for waterfowl conservation than Duck Unlimited. They are a group of conservationist hunters.
  • offerorofferor Member Posts: 8,625 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    I just saw a documentary on this last night. There's a town, I forget the name, where there's a plant that spews lead dust all over town, and I mean 30% lead dust. Everyone has to stay indoors, seal the windows etc. For those who don't move away, the lead rates in their blood and their kids' blood is at least 4 times the safe maximum, and the trouble with lead is that it impedes the intelligence of growing young'uns. Given that lead is a known danger when absorbed by humans, I think keeping raw lead out of the environment is a good idea. I don't shoot uncased lead on the range any more and don't like to be there when other people do. I handle sinkers whenever I fish but would be willing to go with a better alternative. No point in getting all closed minded about stuff like this just because I'm over 50, right?

    - Life NRA Member
    If dishonorable men shoot unarmed men with army guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and not by general deprivation of constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
  • robsgunsrobsguns Member Posts: 4,581 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Hmmm.... how can I put this? I am all in favor of doing whatever it takes to protect the environment, to a point. I dont personally have a problem with the banning of lead shot for use over water, however, I think the idea that there are that many lead sinkers being lost, so as to be a measureable danger to waterfowl, etc., its pretty ridiculous. I dont know, maybe its just me, but seems we are more worried about a little lead hurting waterfowl, and more willing to do something about it, than what we are willing to do to stop pollution being emitted from factories and autos. I bet California has a problem with lead sinkers too, if they dont, they'll probably soon jump on the bandwagon, but I cant even breathe when I live there. Basically what I'm saying is, why is it that the mentality seems to be, 'Save the wildlife, screw the humans'? What did I ever do to be considered second class as a species? I'd be willing to bet that every person in the nation would look at any congressman like they were insane if a bill was brought before congress that banned all vehicles with any emissions whatsoever, in the name of preserving the air for the human species. Yet if it was deemed detrimental to an endangered species of 3 toed frog, that only lives in 2 counties in southwest Texas, they'd sure as heck seriously think about making vehicles illegal there also.

    SSgt Ryan E. Roberts, USMC

    Edited by - robsguns on 05/11/2002 16:02:14
  • pikeal1pikeal1 Member Posts: 2,707
    edited November -1
    I don't do as much fishing as I used to, but I do know that a half ounce lead sinker is about half the size of a half ounce steel sinker...and if your bass fishing and have a plastic worm and a huge chunck of steel infront of it, it pretty much screws the presentation. Might as well tie on a radiator cap and use that.

    They didn't ban all lead sinkers according to that article...just those that under half an ounce...so the idea of it pollutting the water goes out the window. People can sit there and throw one ounce sinkers into the water all day without a problem. and if people are losing that many sinkers on the shore...then I need to pay them a visit. Imagine how much money you can save by melting down all that lead and casting your own sinkers/bullets.
  • He DogHe Dog Member Posts: 51,593 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    "Yet if it was deemed detrimental to an endangered species of 3 toed frog, that only lives in 2 counties in southwest Texas"

    Don't be silly Rob, cockroaches is the only thing they have in those two counties!

    As to why humans are a second class species, ask yourself which other species is breeding/eating/polluting the other species off the face of the earth. It is not that they are more important, but that they are indeed important to us. Once the ecosystem starts to unravel, there will be no stopping it and it will take us as well. Problem is we do not know a just what point that will start to happen, so we need to preserve every thing we can for our own benefit, if not the benefit of anything else.
  • RugerNinerRugerNiner Member Posts: 12,636 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I don't think the ban on Lead Sinkers is necessary at this point, what is necessary is an alternative. How about Sinkers made out of something Biodegradeable like (fish) food that will disenegrate after being in the water for a period of time. They make Golf Tees now that are made out of corn and dissolve over time. Alternative Sinkers of weight can be produced by high compression.

    Remember...Terrorist are attacking Civilians; Not the Government. Protect Yourself!
    Keep your Powder dry and your Musket well oiled.
    NRA Lifetime Benefactor Member.
  • rg666rg666 Member Posts: 395 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Just use all the copper jacketed bullets instead since you won't be able to have a gun in New York if its up to Hilliary & Shumer anyway.
  • IconoclastIconoclast Member Posts: 10,515 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Lead sinkers are prohibited on many waters in NH because the wildlife people were able to prove that it was affecting certain species - particularly loons. To me, sinkers are a much smaller issue than lead shot. I lost more crippled waterfowl the first day I had to use that soft steel crap than all the species of game birds lost in my previous twenty years of hunting. And these were all shots within 30 yards, one of which, at twenty yards, caused the duck to cartwheel across the surface of the water for fifteen feet before it flew away (first bird I'd shot with the stuff; I was so stunned I didn't even think to shoot again). Makes me wonder if the 'scientists' who pushed this agenda were later doing lynx studies in the West . . . .
  • SUBMARINERSUBMARINER Member Posts: 1,362 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    pataki is a republican sop i been told but democrat zell miller is more in line with conservatism than pataki,more p.c. bulls!@t.i guess the new sinkers will be made out of a space age polymer that costs 10 times more than lead

    SUBMARINE SAILOR,TRUCK DRIVER,NE'ER DO WELL, INSTIGATOR,AND RUSTY WALLACE FAN
  • 4GodandCountry4GodandCountry Member Posts: 3,968
    edited November -1
    I guess they could put liquid mercury into little plastic balls and they would be heavy enouph. (sarcasm for the treehuggers)

    What about toilet paper? How many trees does the world wipe its collective * with every year? Do you think Potaki will push for an alternative wiping material? I have a suggestion, just grab the nearest tree huggerto you, rip his sleeve off his shirt, and use that... Be sure to return it afterwards though, we wouldn't want to seem uncivalised...

    When Clinton left office they gave him a 21 gun salute. Its a damn shame they all missed....
  • austin247austin247 Member Posts: 375
    edited November -1
    Shoot, when I was a youngun' growin' up in north Texas we ate lead sinkers like candy and nibbled on paint chips for snacks. I ain't seen any bad effects at all, and anyone who tells ya that my ADD is related is full of what makes the grass grow green around these here parts. Besides, my ADD has gotten much be

    Edited by - austin247 on 05/14/2002 13:37:56
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