Environmental Concerns

Angling

It is common to see the remnants of angling—fishing with a pole and line—long after anglers go home for the day. Anglers deplete already-threatened fish populations, and lost lures and tangled fishing line litter the banks of many lakes, rivers, and ocean shores. People who fish for “sport” are contributing to the decline of our natural fisheries, and lost lures and tangled fishing line cause death and environmental damage.

Anglers are killing off fish who are already threatened by pollution and habitat loss. A recent study confirms that anglers kill a far larger proportion of threatened species than previously thought—they cause almost 25 percent of the deaths of over-fished saltwater species. Hooks don’t discriminate, so endangered and threatened species cannot be protected from injury or death if angling is allowed in their habitats.

Anglers prefer to catch some fish species over others. To keep large numbers of these “desirable” species in lakes and rivers, fish are trucked in from hatcheries and released into lakes and rivers all over the country. Dumping farmed fish into waterways is called “stocking.” Many anglers wait to learn where these young fish have been released so they will be guaranteed to catch buckets of fish at the location. And in some cases, thousands of fish are released just before a fishing tournament so that more fish can be caught.

Anglers have killed so many fish that many of our lakes and rivers would be empty if they weren’t stocked with farm-raised fish. And while anglers are trying to hook a specific species, many nontarget animals are injured or killed. Some lakes are completely drained just to improve conditions for anglers, killing countless animals who live in the lake or depend on it for food and water.

But the deaths don’t stop when the anglers go home because the fishing gear that they leave behind continues to threaten all wildlife. Birds, marine mammals, endangered sea turtles, and dozens of species of fish are injured by abandoned fishing equipment and suffer slow, agonizing deaths. Coastal towns report that animal injuries commonly occur from discarded gear.