Your letters

Anglers should be environmentally aware. I was struck, as I browsed my local tackle shop, by just how overpackaged our terminal tackle has become. Even the simplest item, is in a plastic bag with a nice cardboard insert to tell you what it is and, of course, which brand it is. I'm old enough to remember walking into a tackle shop and asking for a dozen size 10 hooks and a half dozen size 8 swivels. The owner would pull out a couple of trays, count out the items, and put them in a small paper bag. I understand that attractive displays encourage impulse buying – I fall victim every time – and also that manufacturers want to encourage brand loyalty, even though I cannot discern any difference between a lot of small items and strongly suspect they emanate from the same factory in China or somewhere. However, that packaging is adding to cost, and when I get it home, the contents are decanted into my tackle box. The cardboard goes to the recycling bin, and the plastic, which is currently not recycled, ends up in landfill or shipped to some third world country for disposal. Although it doesn't compare with the waste generated by coffee shops and fast food outlets, the trade needs to realise that the present approach is not acceptable and they must look at alternatives. Sea anglers can still buy hooks in little cardboard boxes of 50 and 100, at less than we pay for 10 branded carp hooks. Time for changes; who will lead the way?