The quantity of lead shot, nylon fishing line and other litter discarded at a coarse fishing lake

Abstract

In order to assess the impact of angling on the environment an attempt was made to estimate the quantity of angler litter present around a popular coarse fishery. The lake bank was divided into nine site categories which had experienced different degrees of angler pressure. Lead shot, nylon line and general litter were collected from sampling points within these sites and used to estimate total quantities around the lake. In total 41 000 ± 14 000 lead shot, 57 ± 21 km (96 000 ± 35 000 pieces) of nylon line and 106 m 2 (5552 pieces) of general litter were estimated to occur on the entire lake bank. The vast majority of lead shot, nylon line and general litter was present in close proximity to fishing points and these areas contained the highest litter densities, with lead shot up to 137 pieces m −2, nylon line up to 188 pieces m −2 (173m m −2) and general litter up to 4 pieces m −2, (2900 cm 2m −2). It was concluded that anglers discarded the majority of the lead shot and nylon line pieces during tackle manipulations and that anglers were also the source of a substantial quantity of the general litter which creates a large visual impact on the lake environment.