Demo in Bewdley

[Leon Roskilly]

http://www.expressandstar.com/2008/07/14/s...d-poison-shock/

[Dick Dastardly]

Two quotes from the latest rubbish-

 

"She said: “I know what the anglers are saying. They have told me I must prove that the birds are ill because of lead. So now it’s up to them to prove they are not responsible.”"

 

"Drew Clifford owner of The Mug House pub along the river said: “I don’t think the fisherman are to blame, I think it must coming from people shooting.”"

 

No one has ever denied that lead poisoning is a big problem with swans.No one (to my knowledge?) has ever asked Ms Harrigan to prove that its lead poisoning.And following on from the last quote,its simple enough to tell the difference between anglers shot (all now non lead in the sizes that were a problem) and shot gun lead no matter how old it is.

 

Terry I presume (excuse me if Im wrong) from your question re if the legal lead sizes are available in non toxic alternatives that you dont know why certain sizes were banned (ie below 1ozs and above No8). Its basicly that swans need to ingest pieces of grit which stay in their gizzard (or is it called crop?) to help them grind up food so it can be digested. The size of this grit corresponds with the sizes of banned lead apparen6tly.Never been to sure about them picking up 1/2ozs bombs and the like myself though!

 

If ever any of these poisoned swans die then I hope they are cut open and the shot examined. My only concern re the culpability of anglers (and its sadly quite possible) is that these deaths/poisonings seemed to have suddenly increased again after dropping off for some years.It does worry me that this might coincide with the heavy flooding (and remember there was a lot of construction work on the river just up from the town the other year) and anglers lead shot that had been lost in the silt over the many years prior to the ban has been re surfaced.

 

Mind you that said so will any shot gun lead.Its just that the likes of good old Jan will need only one shot with a split in it and we are scuppered.

 

Great shame though that this womans (seemingly) vendetta against angling is directing attention away from what I still believe is the major source of lead pollution (swan wise anyway).

 

I bet my fat ass that if one piece of anglers lead (or non toxic for that matter) was found in a swan that the angling ban would be brought in but also no matter how much lead shot from a gun was found zilch would happen.Any takers?

[Leon Roskilly]

This report from Mr Crabtree!!

 

http://www.kidderminstershuttle.co.uk/news...o_fishing_zone/

[Dick Dastardly]

"Lyn Fraley, principal communications officer for the Environment Agency, said they were still not certain why swans were dying in Bewdley.

 

She explained they had funded the analysis of swan blood provided by the Wychbold Swan Rescue Centre and the results had shown high levels of lead"

 

Seems we are paying to shaft our selves now! Another piece of evidence to show both the incompet and wastefull

way the EA spend our money.

 

Sad to say but the sooner one of these ill swans actually dies and is cut open the better it will be for all (including the swans) involved.Only then will the true source of the lead be discovered and hopefully measures taken to solve the problem. Why cant anyone seem to see this?

 

My prime (as should Jan Harrigan and the EA et al should be to protect the wildlife.If this has to be done by a fishing ban (all though it has yet to be shown or even sugested as to how this would help) then so be it and I would support it fully. I wont just sit back and allow us to merely be scape goats or for anyone to use this as fuel for their own anti angling agenda. Nor should anyone else.

 

Trouble is as anglers we tend to be a bit selfish amnd stick our head in the sand."As long as its not happening in my back yard" is our attitude.

 

What are "our" angling bodies doing about this? Why dont they keep us informed? Whats Mr "I come in peace" (sorry cant remember your name) and his guys who tried to rally us to the march doing now?

 

Seems they keep us just as much in the dark as Harrigan and co do.Ive not recieved a single reply to any of my emails to outside bodioes involved in this issue would expect to be kept informed by our "own" people though.

 

I kind of feel sorry for the town council though as they must sit very much on the fence untill some hard facts are presented.They obviously dont weant to lose the angling/anglers and resulting revenue but daren't be see not to be protecting the swans and therefore upsetting people on that side!

[Steve Walker]

It's a simple matter; the swans have lead poisoning. Anglers do not currently use lead. Current angling practices have nothing to do with this. End of matter. Case closed, no grounds for banning angling.

 

If swans are still dying now that nobody uses lead shot, I would say there are two possibilities:

 

# 1 - They're picking up old lead from before the ban

 

or

 

# 2 - We weren't at fault in the first place, and were unfairly scapegoated in the '80s by the likes of Harrigan.

[Dick Dastardly]

If swans are still dying now that nobody uses lead shot, I would say there are two possibilities:

 

# 1 - They're picking up old lead from before the ban

 

or

 

# 2 - We weren't at fault in the first place, and were unfairly scapegoated in the '80s by the likes of Harrigan.

 

At the risk of becoming boring 3 possibilities-

 

#3 - They're picking up lead but shotgun lead.

[Steve Walker]

#3 would come under #2, I would say; if it's not us, I don't care who it is, the mad swan lady can go and persecute them.

 

I've added a comment on that local news page, and have generously included a third possibility, that someone is using lead illegally, but have added that you can't buy the damned stuff anymore and that the EA should be policing it:

 

Since anglers have not been allowed to use lead shot since 1987, I see only three possibilities;

 

1. This problem is caused by lead lost more than 20 years ago.

 

2. The Environment Agency is failing to enforce the law relating to the use of lead.

 

3. The lead comes from somewhere else entirely.

 

Case #1 would be regrettable, but nothing an angling ban could fix.

 

Case #2 is unlikely, since one can no longer buy lead split shot.

 

Case #3 would imply that anglers were never solely responsible for lead poisoning in swans, and may have been wrongly made scapegoats by swan welfare campaigners.

[Dick Dastardly]

#3 would come under #2, I would say; if it's not us, I don't care who it is, the mad swan lady can go and persecute them.

 

I've added a comment on that local news page, and have generously included a third possibility, that someone is using lead illegally, but have added that you can't buy the damned stuff anymore and that the EA should be policing it:

 

Whilst I agree with your comments Steve youve dropped all anglers in it by saying that you cant buy lead shot anymore.It took me seconds to find this as Im sure it would any anti angler-

 

http://shop.ebay.co.uk/?_from=R40&_trk...lead+split+shot

 

Its just giving them ammunition (er no pun intended!) if we dont get our facts right.We also destroy all credibility we have by doing so.

[Guest tigger]

I can't get over the price of that stuff !

[Dick Dastardly]

Must be some one with some legal knowledge on here who can tell me if its A) legal to sell leadshopt or if it is couldnt a buyer sue the seller for selling him something that wasnt "fit for intended purpose" (ie due to it being illegal to use it) ?