Problems with Polystyrene
During the spring and summer months polystyrene bait containers are constantly discarded littering shorelines creating a worse problem than just a eye sore.
The foamed polystyrene or PS 6 that makes up the bait containers that popular bait farms use to package their night crawlers poses several environmental threats to fish. Polystyrene more commonly known around these parts as styrofoam biodegrades so slowly it will lasts for many years in a freshwater ecosystem.
In time polystyrene breaks down into small enough pieces becoming no longer visible as littler it's then at this point when the polystyrene becomes most dangerous.
Small bait fish like the Stickleback may be toxic when eaten by larger fish after potentially ingesting tiny bits of polystyrene that either caused choking or clogged it's digestive system.Trout and other game fish rise to snap up foam ants and white dry flies so eating a dead drifting piece of white polystyrene most likely happens more than you might think.
Polystyrene then has potential to release carcinogens if broken down by those fishes digestive systems leaching into the flesh and then possibly being eaten by a unsuspecting fisherman.
Chemicals released by styrene in to fish and small filter feeders disrupt hormone function and cause reproductive issues. Really if you get down to the brass tax it's just not worth the potential hazards and it needs to change.
The one thing we as anglers can do is to be better stewards to the environment is packing out or garbage. For the deal of effort applied to pack your gear in a substantially less amount of effort is required to bring your trash home so we have no excuse lets not be lazy.
The industry needs to find alternative products to package night crawlers. I have read that perhaps a non bleached recycled paper product would suffice. Over the years polystyrene has been removed from fast food chains and coffee shops across the world now I believe it is time to remove it from the bait industry.
We make efforts to protect our fish stock with catch and release, the use of circle hooks, closed seasons during spawning periods, stocking programs and so on. Wild life officers, biologists and hatchery owners put their lives in to protecting and preserving these ecosystems for us and for the future generations. Around the industry and online fishing community thousands of bloggers guides, fishing pros, tv personalities, industry insiders, tackle manufactures and average every day anglers work to make a difference so we shouldn't belittle their efforts.
Lets do our best to keep it clean and tread lightly it is more than our responsibility it is the way everybody can make a difference even if it's a small one.
The eastern pearlshell mollusk
The eastern pearlshell and other freshwater mollusks are key components to a healthy ecosystem through out the rivers and streams of eastern Canada. From stabilization of shorelines to supporting bio-filtration of river water the eastern pearlshell mollusk lives a life mostly unnoticed to anglers and far from talks at political tables.
The eastern pearlshell mollusk or fresh water mussel as called locally filters up to a liter of water per hour multiplied by grams of tissue weight so a eastern pearlshell that weighs 4 grams can filter 4 liters of water per hour. Apply that math to a full population of mussels and were looking at tens of thousands of liters per day of clean filtered water.
There is more to the eastern pearlshells story. How it reproduces and distributes it's young as well as it's relationship to trout and Atlantic salmon tell the importance of a little talked about part of what makes up a good fishery.
Pearlshells are dependent on trout and salmon for dispersal through out river and stream systems. After the female filters what she needs from the near by male and broods the eggs for a few months she releases hundreds of thousands of larva. Some of the tiny larva find their way onto fishes gills, fins and skin quickly becoming over grown with the fishes tissue.
After a few weeks the larva is now a small mussel and breaks away from the trout or salmon. They fall to the bottom and begin burrow in. So around here salmon and trout are responsible for the entire mussel population giving shelter and food to the juvenile mussels and expanding the current range of the eastern pearlshell.
Filtering water is only one element of the pearlshells purpose. Small pearlshells are eaten by trout and larger ones feed otters, mink and muskrats. A pearlshell releases it's unwanted food in a mucus strand across the river bed. This discard brings suspended zoo plankton and tiny plants called phytoplankton down to the river bed feeding the rivers aquatic insects.
Perhaps the single most important thing eastern pearlshells do for trout and salmon comes as a bi-product of their own feeding. In exchange for the trout and salmon carrying the juvenile mussels over the life time of a single eastern pearlshell it will filter over 500 000 liters of water while feeding. Constantly removing bacteria and parasites that are harmful to fish. Sort of like a forever flu shot or preventive medicine for trout.
Now this is a fishing network so we will pose the question. How does the eastern pearlshell help us catch more fish?
If you can see clusters of pearlshells on a stream bed you can bet there is plenty of nymphs and other insects feeding amongst the mussels. Insects and nymphs mean trout and trout equal happy fisherman.
Dry fly fishing with emergers and nymphs will produce trout over mussel beds. Careful not to use jigs or drop shots the mussels will clamp down on you tackle and you will have to kill it to get it back.
TIP: To find your local breed of fresh water mussel take a white 1 gallon bucket and cut a rectangle from the bottom add a clear plastic window with some silicone and you have a cheap mussel finder.
Fresh water mussels like the pearlshell can easily wiped out of a ecosystem by any number of factors. Pesticides, fertilizers and higher then normal water temperatures due to climate change to name a few. Over fishing of trout in my area no doubt will destroy what is left of the eastern pearlshell and the very rare Newfoundland floater that lives in the ponds of this province.
When the trout stocks are destroyed mussels can't reproduce or spread the range. eventually the older and larger mussels get eaten by aquatic fur bearing animals and bacteria and parasites make the water unfit for fishing and risky for swimming.
In summery we can safely say no trout no mussels and no mussels no trout. All things in our waters are connected to help protect one we must protect them all. A rivers insects, plants, animals and fish are all vital to sustain the fishery.