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...FishinDan
No comments:
Post a Comment