Yup, you read that right. Really it’s nothing new…environmental groups have been trying to outlaw the use of lead in fishing gear and ammo for years. Their main argument:
> “Lead jigs and sinkers can poison loons when the birds scoop them up on lake bottoms while they are searching for pebbles to help them digest their food.
> “People don’t make that connection — that when they lose a lead jig, it never rusts or decomposes…it sits there for decades.”
So what’s the impact?
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A lead ban would mean you could expect fishing tackle to become waaaay more expensive overall since a lot of heavier lead alternatives (like tungsten) are dang near worth their weight in gold.
Some states such as NH, VT, NY and ME already have some form of a lead ban. Believe in NH it’s a $250 fine if you’re caught using lead jigs/sinkers, so still a little bit cheaper than buying tungsten in the first place lol.
IMO it’s just a matter of time before we see some type of a lead ban here in MN. I’m not taking sides ‘cuz I see where both are coming from…but:
> In 2015, [MN] released a study of more than 130 loons that had been found dead over the course of several years…. More than 11% of the loons had died of lead poisoning.
Okay…what are the other 89% of loons dying from??
Source: Targetwalleye.com
