How environmatally friendly are SP's?

[Goldcoast_Local]

Just a thought but, with SP's having such a huge following and i imagine tonnes of these being lost in our waterways every week how responsible is it to use them?

I can nderstand the Berkley Gulp range being OK because they are organic so should not present to much of a problem.

You guys using SP's ever think about this?

I know we all think its a sin to leave fishing line and plastic bags about but no doubt more plastic in the form of SP's most likely enters our waterways than fishing line.

What do you think??

[cactus_jack]

Not sure GC Local, still being a bit wary of this new-fangled idea have not had much of a go with them, I have not lost any and the those that I have used and put back in the tacklebox have shrunk and gone very hard by the next time I open it. I can see that these would not fade into the environment quickly. But in saying that, these must surely have a far less impact then all the floating plastic bags out there, at least the SP would sink to the bottom and be a minimum of danger to marine life

[aussiefool]

only time will tell, look back on all the things that were ok to do say 50 years ago and today it's a no no

[Feral]

They are suposed to have some fairly nasty chemicals in the plastics. But I think the concern is more about someone who might handle them day in day out whilst new (ie plent of the chemicals left on the surface) like the people who make them, not people who occassionally handle them.

Long term in the environment the real plastics should not be harmful as they wont break down and release chemicals / nutrients. They are probably like old tyres, environmentally they are not that much of a problem, but as they will last for ever they might look bl@@dy ugly!

The ones that do break down may be a problem if they are in huge amounts, as they are obviously releasing the chemicals and nutrients in them as they break down..

[iank]

I think you may be surprised at how few are actually are left in the water, most end up on the floor of boats after being replaced due to damage. When you first start fishing plastics it seems like every cast is attracted to the meanest plastic eating snag in the water but after a few trip most people get the feel for what they are doing and plastic loses due to snagging becomes a minor inconvenience with maybe 2-3 plastics lost to snags on average. The thing that annoys me most is people who throw damaged plastics into the water > , (gulps I can handle as they are biodegradable), what is so hard about dropping the plastic on the floor of the boat and binning them back at the boat ramp or at home. Just my thoughts.
Cheers Ian

[AdrianK]

Good and bad. In many parts of Japan, they are banned, due to excessive numbers winding up in waterways, virtually not degradable. Same with lead jigheads and sinkers, with the added problem of being toxic.

The upside for the environment, is that compared to bait fishing, very few fish get gut or throat hooked, so survival rates on release are much higher.

I guess its really our responsibility to self govern on safe disposal of broken SP's as much as possible (obviously not always possible).

[JasonT]

Try leaving one in some saltwater and sunlight and find out :-)

Let us know what you find!

Jason

[far.kwirk]

I tend to keep any damaged plastics and since I mainly use weedless Jigheads in snaggy country I don't tend to loose much in the water.

[Dirtysanchez]

Wouldn't they float once the hooks rust out on them ?

I've picked up a few dead looking ones in the shallows around Pine river and Nudgee, not worth keeping and I put them in the bin, but you do see that the hook has rusted away, maybe they just go to the old SP graveyard in the sky ?

[Duyz72]

You can always go and get an injection mould done of your favourite SP!

Then when they are damaged save them up, once you got a whole bunch, melt them down and pour some of your own.

Recycle!

Sure they might not end up being perfect as the new ones, but when there is a hot bite you can hook them up and save on your flash new ones!
Would be perfect for the pelagics when you don't want to sacrifice your newbies.

[Poodroo]

I have left used plastics in the bottom of the tackle box and was truly amazed at how they literally self destruct. The are very corrosive to anything they touch too having found one that had eaten it's way into a plastic mustad hook container. I am sure they would break down. My main thought was what would it do to the inside of the fish that tear pieces of it and actually ingest it? Would it harm them? Who knows?

Poodroo