Plastic baits

Posted by 65.216.254.226 brandsxb on July 12, 2010 at 15:22:58:

This came out last year but it may signal the beginning
of the phase out of non-biodegradable plastics. They
are starting to be banned in England on certain lakes.

by August 1, 2009, L.L.Bean Retail Stores will no
longer be offering traditional soft plastic lures and
will be proud to only offer biodegradable alternatives
which cost roughly the same, are just as effective and
durable and breakdown naturally in water within 60-90
days and within 30 days in a fish's stomach. The new
assortment of biodegradable alternatives also closely
mirror the broad assortment previously represented by
the traditional soft plastics L.L.Bean was offering.
The catalog and web will soon follow."

Attached below is a press release from study results of
MDIFW from eariler this Spring on the same:

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Source: MDIFW
For Immediate Release
April 27, 2009

Study: Soft plastic lures harming Maine’s trout, salmon

AUGUSTA – The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and
Wildlife (IF&W) is strongly encouraging anglers to
protect Maine’s fish by changing from soft plastic
lures to biodegradable ones.

Maine fisheries biologists are reporting increasing
numbers of angled trout and salmon with indigestible
soft plastic lures in their stomachs, according to John
Boland, IF&W Fisheries Division Director. A discarded
soft plastic lure consumed innocently by a brook trout
from the bottom of a freshwater shoal likely remains in
that fish’s stomach for the rest of its life and may
cause health issues such as ulcers and weight loss.

Soft plastic lures are most commonly used by bass
anglers, often in waters shared with trout and salmon.
IF&W is cooperating in studies on the effects of soft
plastic lure ingestion by trout and salmon, including
one recent experiment at Unity College, which was
conducted by IF&W Pathologist Dr. Russ Danner, Unity
College Professor Jim Chacko, PhD., and IF&W Fisheries
Biologist Francis Brautigam, and in another study
currently underway at Southern Maine Community College.

The study conducted at Unity College found that 65
percent of brook trout voluntarily consumed soft
plastic lures if they simply were dropped into water.

“We found that fish retained the lures in their
stomachs for 13 weeks without regurgitating them,”
according to Dr. Danner. “They also began to act
anorexic and lost weight within 90 days of eating a
soft plastic lure.”

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