TALKING POINT
Is a lead ban on the horizon?
“In most waters lead is stable and does not dissolve”
THE USE of lead in leger weights and swimfeeders could be outlawed in the very near future if an EU report, due to be published this year, calls for an outright ban.
As a result of Brexit, UK anglers wouldn’t have a legal obligation to follow suit, but some anglers believe Britain has a moral duty to comply.
Late last year the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) called for evidence to support or oppose a ban on lead in fishing tackle and ammunition used in shooting. The agency is set to publish its findings in October this year, and if a ban is recommended, the proposal could become EU law by the end of 2022.
Since 1987 it has been illegal to use lead in fishing weights of between 0.06g (no8 shot) and 28.35g (1oz) in this country, but larger bombs and feeders are still almost exclusively constructed from lead.
In 2015, THE European Fishing Tackle Trade Association (EFTTA) released a statement calling on anglers and tackle companies to voluntarily reduce the use of lead weights and use them only where there are no suitable alternatives. In 2018 they followed up with a report on the state of lead use in fishing and shooting, noting the practice of ‘ejecting the lead’ favoured by specimen carp anglers. The report stated: “It is estimated that in the EU as much as 2,000-6,000 tonnes of lead is dispersed into the environment by fishing with lead sinkers every year.” It’s commonly believed that discarded lead weights and swimfeeders leach toxins into the water, harming the fish in the process, although leading fish scientist Dr Bruno Broughton was quick to highlight the “faults, bias and twisted information” in the report.
He said: “In most fishing waters, lead is stable, does not dissolve and gradually sinks into and becomes covered by anoxic [zero-oxygen] bottom sediments, where it is unavailable to the water environment. There appears to be no hard evidence that demonstrates angling lead dissolves in water and produces other environmental impacts.”
A number of tackle companies have created lead alternatives over the years, although they are much larger, ounce for ounce, than lead, and therefore less user-friendly and effective.
Nevertheless, Pallatrax boss Simon Pomeroy, whose company introduced Stonze natural weights, advocates a lead ban on environmental grounds. “We’re littering our lakebeds with leads. It’s a practice that,
in many cases, people have accepted on the grounds of fish safety, even though we could be creating water-quality and bio-mass problems.
“The angling community is often one of the first to highlight and respond to environmental issues, but I feel this one is simply being ignored.”
Dinsmores is another early adopter of lead alternatives for use in angling. Boss Nigel May said: “Our alternative split shot is made using tin, and while this gives them a slightly larger profile than lead, they obviously still weigh the same. For making larger weights, zinc is another possible alternative, but again it isn’t as dense. The ban currently in place is there to protect birds, and we will have to see what further legislation is brought forward, if any. One of the main problems is that lead is far cheaper than all the alternatives for larger weights.”
What happens next will be decided by the recommendations of the report, due in October, although these would probably be consulted and voted upon by the UK government which, post-Brexit, has no obligation to follow suit. Nevertheless, the findings could still influence their decision, and the very real prospect looms on the horizon that within a couple of years, UK anglers will be forced to fork out for less suitable and more expensive means of weighing down their float and leger rigs.