Conservation of Our Resource One Step at a Time
You ask, what can just one fisherman do to preserve the most important resource to their sport? Actually, you can do a lot! I bet you already do many things to help your resource while you are on the water, without even thinking about it. With just a little more effort, and a little practice we can all do that and much more with just a small amount of effort. In the next few paragraphs, let's talk about what we can do, as fisherman, on each trip to make that small difference. When multiplied by the tens of thousands of us on the water each year, the difference becomes significant.
How can we make the lakes we fish in cleaner and thus help to improve the water quality? I keep a box in my front compartment of my boat to put trash, fishing line, broken baits, and used plastics in. How many times have you hooked up to someone's old fishing line in the water and brought it in only to throw it back in the water, thrown that used plastic worm overboard, or discarded a can overboard? Those simple little acts done hundreds of times a day on our lakes add up to trash, chemicals, lead, and other detriments to the lakes ecosystem in play just from being careless or apathetic. Take a couple of extra seconds and discard the trash and other materials, so that they can be properly disposed of at the end of the day. Get that fishing line you hook out of the water to create a better environment for the fish and other fishermen.
Our used fishing line is the catalyst to causing all kinds of problems throughout the environment and in nature. Keep that used up backlash line stashed away, and when you hook that old line in the water, gather it up and put it away to be recycled. Companies like Berkley have recycling programs that recycle and gather fishing line that has been used all over the country. We see the PVC containers being built by scouts and bass clubs to help reduce the leftover line out there at local boat docks and marinas all over so if you do not want to take the time to recycle line put your old line there so someone else will. Check out Berkley’s site at http://www.berkley-fishing.com/Recycling/Berkley-recycling,default,pg.html for information on their program. Line left out in the environment can also tangle up in wildlife's legs, wings, bodies, etcetera and cause injuries. I am sure you have seen the pictures of this before or have seen it out in nature. Line left out in the water can cause injuries to fish, damage to motors, and generally are an eyesore that is easily prevented with very little action or effort. This one is also something that gives fisherman a bad name with other lake users and the general public, so the extra added benefit is that it negates the negative perception people have when they don't see it laying around or at least see an effort to collect and dispose of it properly.
Plastic worms, and other baits just thrown overboard, are another issue with all kinds of ramifications not often considered. Dispose of baits and used plastics properly and don't just throw them overboard to avoid cluttering the boat. There are many different kinds of plastics with different effects when thrown overboard from swelling in size and being unsightly, being eaten by fish or birds (which could cause intestinal blockages in some instances harming them), being sucked up into engine cooling systems, etcetera. Plastics are made from many different kinds of PVC's and deteriorate in all different ways and times, some swell and others may never breakdown. ReBaits is an organization that collects used plastics to be recycled and has a recycling bin program that can be checked out at http://www.rebaits.org. ReBaits relies on bass clubs, businesses, and other organizations to help. Some companies are even making biodegeradable plastics as well, to help reduce pollution in the environment.
Chunking that old leadhead or spinnerbait overboard can also add lead and other chemicals into the environment as well as possibly causing injury to fish, adding another unsightly/unneeded piece of trash into the fishing environment. So take these items with you at the end of the day and dispose of them properly, it takes just a few minutes and very little energy.
Another very simple thing that does take a little more effort is to clean and wash your boat between trips to lakes washing out livewells and trailers to avoid tracking invasive grasses and organisms between lakes. Many of us fish dozens of different lake each year, and we can transport invasive organisms and grasses between lakes that shouldn't be there without even knowing we did it. It may not seem like much, but some grasses and organisms can be devastating to the ecosystems they are introduced to. Grass can be great on lakes with deep water and channels, but a shallow lake with no way to combat it can smother an ecosystem. There are all kinds of organisms that can be transported as well, that can harm prey species or even the bass themselves. In future articles, I will discuss these further and we can go through ways to help with this serious problem.
These ideas above are some quick tips, and easy ways to help preserve our favorite fish as we go out fishing each day. They don't cost you anything, nor do they take any real time or energy. In future articles I will discuss more ways to help to preserve Bass and create new habitats for the fish. This series will include responsible tournament conservation, habitat creation, spread of invasive species, and preservation projects just to name a few. My goal is to add a new article every month or so, and I hope to get you, not only thinking, but acting to help preserve our valuable resource we call Bass.
Check out Bass Unlimiited for ways to conserve and preserve our resource in the future!!
How can we make the lakes we fish in cleaner and thus help to improve the water quality? I keep a box in my front compartment of my boat to put trash, fishing line, broken baits, and used plastics in. How many times have you hooked up to someone's old fishing line in the water and brought it in only to throw it back in the water, thrown that used plastic worm overboard, or discarded a can overboard? Those simple little acts done hundreds of times a day on our lakes add up to trash, chemicals, lead, and other detriments to the lakes ecosystem in play just from being careless or apathetic. Take a couple of extra seconds and discard the trash and other materials, so that they can be properly disposed of at the end of the day. Get that fishing line you hook out of the water to create a better environment for the fish and other fishermen.
Our used fishing line is the catalyst to causing all kinds of problems throughout the environment and in nature. Keep that used up backlash line stashed away, and when you hook that old line in the water, gather it up and put it away to be recycled. Companies like Berkley have recycling programs that recycle and gather fishing line that has been used all over the country. We see the PVC containers being built by scouts and bass clubs to help reduce the leftover line out there at local boat docks and marinas all over so if you do not want to take the time to recycle line put your old line there so someone else will. Check out Berkley’s site at http://www.berkley-fishing.com/Recycling/Berkley-recycling,default,pg.html for information on their program. Line left out in the environment can also tangle up in wildlife's legs, wings, bodies, etcetera and cause injuries. I am sure you have seen the pictures of this before or have seen it out in nature. Line left out in the water can cause injuries to fish, damage to motors, and generally are an eyesore that is easily prevented with very little action or effort. This one is also something that gives fisherman a bad name with other lake users and the general public, so the extra added benefit is that it negates the negative perception people have when they don't see it laying around or at least see an effort to collect and dispose of it properly.
Plastic worms, and other baits just thrown overboard, are another issue with all kinds of ramifications not often considered. Dispose of baits and used plastics properly and don't just throw them overboard to avoid cluttering the boat. There are many different kinds of plastics with different effects when thrown overboard from swelling in size and being unsightly, being eaten by fish or birds (which could cause intestinal blockages in some instances harming them), being sucked up into engine cooling systems, etcetera. Plastics are made from many different kinds of PVC's and deteriorate in all different ways and times, some swell and others may never breakdown. ReBaits is an organization that collects used plastics to be recycled and has a recycling bin program that can be checked out at http://www.rebaits.org. ReBaits relies on bass clubs, businesses, and other organizations to help. Some companies are even making biodegeradable plastics as well, to help reduce pollution in the environment.
Chunking that old leadhead or spinnerbait overboard can also add lead and other chemicals into the environment as well as possibly causing injury to fish, adding another unsightly/unneeded piece of trash into the fishing environment. So take these items with you at the end of the day and dispose of them properly, it takes just a few minutes and very little energy.
Another very simple thing that does take a little more effort is to clean and wash your boat between trips to lakes washing out livewells and trailers to avoid tracking invasive grasses and organisms between lakes. Many of us fish dozens of different lake each year, and we can transport invasive organisms and grasses between lakes that shouldn't be there without even knowing we did it. It may not seem like much, but some grasses and organisms can be devastating to the ecosystems they are introduced to. Grass can be great on lakes with deep water and channels, but a shallow lake with no way to combat it can smother an ecosystem. There are all kinds of organisms that can be transported as well, that can harm prey species or even the bass themselves. In future articles, I will discuss these further and we can go through ways to help with this serious problem.
These ideas above are some quick tips, and easy ways to help preserve our favorite fish as we go out fishing each day. They don't cost you anything, nor do they take any real time or energy. In future articles I will discuss more ways to help to preserve Bass and create new habitats for the fish. This series will include responsible tournament conservation, habitat creation, spread of invasive species, and preservation projects just to name a few. My goal is to add a new article every month or so, and I hope to get you, not only thinking, but acting to help preserve our valuable resource we call Bass.
Check out Bass Unlimiited for ways to conserve and preserve our resource in the future!!
