Us Ecology Beatty
It is a matter of course that fishing involves the use of sinkers and lures. The toxic effects of lead in the environment are well documented, but the use of soft plastic fishing lures has not widely been considered a source of marine debris. The American Sportfishing Association documented expenditures by recreational fishers in 2006 for lures, flies, and artificial baits totaled $902.7 million. Some projections claim 25 million soft plastic lures are lost in the field each year.
Ecological Impact of Soft Plastic Lures
Plastic is one of the chief culprits in problems associated with marine debris. It is long lived in the environment and takes hundreds of years to degrade. Soft plastic fishing lures are designed to attract fish, and they break into small, easy to ingest pieces with time.