With all the hype lately about the quality of drinking water here in Pagosa, I’d like to discuss a very relevant topic: the dispersal of lead in our water, through the use of lead weights on fishing lines.
A few months ago, I was introduced to John and Lori Unger. You might know John: he’s the FEDEX guy who delivers packages to you “on-time” everyday. John has a passion for fishing and talks about this passion any time he gets the opportunity. John and Lori have launched a small Pagosa business, known as The Boss Tin Company, which manufacturers environmentally friendly, non-toxic weights for anglers.
When they started the business a few years ago, they came to me for advice to help them take it to it’s next level of growth. Needless to say I’ve been fascinated by the product and its appropriateness in a rapidly changing world.
When we were kids, we thought nothing of connecting a lead weight to our fishing line, and making numerous casts on our favorite lake – until the weight finally separated from the line and sank to the bottom. When we lost that lead weight, we’d pull out our trusty tackle box and choose another weight – which we ‘d promptly put between our teeth, squeeze closed on our fishing line and continue to fish.
When I look under “Fishing Weights” in fishing catalogs today, I find that the warning messages for handling “Lead Sinkers” read like the warning labels for handling radioactive material: which include washing your hands after handling and never – never – putting in your mouth! Many States in the US have banned lead sinkers altogether. Some countries, including Canada, are quickly moving to an outright ban on the product.
So what’s the impact here? Well, since the quantity of lead entering our lakes is small, the current impact appears to be mainly to fish and foul who ingest these wasted sinkers as a perceived food source and ultimately die an unnecessary death. While I believe that local authorities responsible for monitoring the lead levels in our drinking waters are doing a good job, I think that the continued disposal of lead sinkers into these lakes over time could result in a non-reversible contamination event.
As an avid fisherman myself, I see an interesting paradox between the rigid (and very necessary) rules and regulations to keep our waters clean by the PLPOA (which I wholly support) and our continued blind use of these lead sinkers for fishing these pristine waters.
The State of Colorado has yet to be proactive on this subject but it doesn’t mean that we, as residents of Archuleta County, can’t take positive steps to protect ourselves and future generations from lead poisoning. The community has spoken loudly against the continued use of fluorides in our drinking water; I think they would respond positively to embracing a ban on lead fishing weights!
The Boss Tin Company, owned by John and Lori Unger, manufacturer environmentally friendly, non-toxic weights made out of tin and bismuth which are identical in density and appearance to their lead counterparts, except without all the side effects. They are one of a few companies in the world producing this product, because they care and see the benefits.
If the powers that be from Archuleta County, Pagosa Area Water and Sanitation District and the PLPOA somehow got together, they could send a unified message about how much our community cares about the environment. Together, we could create a snowball effect and get other communities to follow our footsteps.