Britain's Waterbirds still being Killed by Lead Poisoning

I would argue that perhaps not enough of some species of waterbirds are being killed by gunshot!

I would argue that perhaps not enough of some species of waterbirds are being killed by gunshot! :D............................ Jerry

From what I have read on this new report the swan issue has vastley improved since 71/87 they reconded 25% of the swans that died were from lead in the period 88/99 this had reduced to 5% and in the last period 2000/10 it was down to 2% so how they can argue that things have not improved I do not know. Iwould have thought if it had improved for swans it would have improved across the board.

As I understand it 99% of the legacy lead pellets in the silt etc of our waterways is derived from shotgun pellets over the years and burger all to do with fishing, which was always a tiddly push source of problems. If ever a problem at all in real terms. Won't stop the RSPB and the like hammering the easy target of disorganised angling versus the hugely organised and well funded game shooting lobby. PS. Can some mod please change the spell checker to UK English ? The word Organised does NOT have a ducking Z in it.

As I understand it 99% of the legacy lead pellets in the silt etc of our waterways is derived from shotgun pellets over the years and burger all to do with fishing, which was always a tiddly push source of problems. If ever a problem at all in real terms. Won't stop the RSPB and the like hammering the easy target of disorganised angling versus the hugely organised and well funded game shooting lobby. PS. Can some mod please change the spell checker to UK English ? The word Organised does NOT have a ducking Z in it. I thought the current lead source was outboard motors or at least something to do with boats rather than anglers.

The trust argued that laws restricting the use of lead in angling weights and ammunition were not working and called on a review of the legislation...”I did not read the original article in the Gardian, but that statement suggests ignorance. I would be amongst the first to welcome such a review, especially if it was found that lead was still being used illegally (unknowingly/unwittingly from china imports etc.?) but legislation and finger pointing is simply not the only answer. Unlike Global warming where carbon emissions can be legislated against (in the hope of eventually reversing the damage), if lead shot was NEVER EVER used again from this day forth there would still be a problem and that problem may last for EVER and a day! If a bird consumes lead shot and dies (a neurotoxin that accumulates in soft tissues and the bones) then what happens to the lead, does it just disappear along with its rotting flesh? Of course not! Lead has a half-life longer than the age of the universe (depending on the isotope), so all those billions and billions and billions of tons of lead shot already produced and scattered world-wide around the globe since the shot tower was invented in the 18th century are still in the environment and will remain there long after the sun burns out!

This report in the Grunyard seems to have lots of flaws in it. The point about swans has already been made. One of the reports it draws on and is linked in the article has no reference to angling leadshot. It discusses the dangers of consuming shot game birds and the potential of elevated lead leaves to the consumer through it. There's no mention in the Grunyard about duck migration from the continent (to over winter here), where leadshot for angling as I understand it isn't banned. So without the data on what species of birds they found the lead in, when and where they came from, it's wholly speculative and circumspect to start such accusations allover again against angling. Two points of note here 1) There is historic anglers leadshot still in the environment and always will be as Laguna points out. So that will show as peaks and troughs of what can be called background positioning. Floods as we've had this year will keep uncovering such shot. Next year I suggest will show as a peak. There is very little that can be done about that historic legacy. By the way in the last debacle in the 80s the shot trade gave a figure of 3 tonnes annually produced for angling. I asked several cartridge makes for there tonnage of lead used at the time, only one replied, saying they couldn't disclose the figure due to commercial sensitivity. :rolleyes: So I worked out based on shooters I knew and their average shots taken over a season and the numbers of BASAC members there were at that time and got a figure of 500+ tonnes a year. 2) Shooters shot is distinguishable from anglers shot as it's been coated in bismuth (which makes it slightly harder) for about 40 years. So the chemical analysis when done on the shot shows up the bismuth. That said, the grinding process of the bird's gizzard if ingested removes the coating allowing the lead to be mobilised into the bird's bloodstream. PS anybody seen a response from the Angling Trust as yet?