FEATURE | SUSTAINABILITY
36 www.tackletradeworld.com
A survey of UK angling baits and sustainability has shown that
ingredients are a key factor in buying decisions and one that
looks set to continue to infl uence anglers, as fish21’s director of
sustainability, Dr. Stuart Mclanaghan explains.
Over the last
few months, a
major survey
in the UK has
been gathering views
from anglers about
baits (including
groundbait but not
plastic lures) in an
effort to understand
what makes people buy certain
products and how much they buy.
The survey, undertaken by specialist
angling sustainability organisation
fi sh21, is thought to be the fi rst major
engagement with anglers on this
subject and it involved 405 anglers plus
more than 1,000 written comments.
It results suggest that, annually,and
across all disciplines, each angler
buys an average of 42.3kg of bait and
groundbait. Assuming that there are
approximately one million regular
UK anglers, this equates annually to
around a combined 42,300 tonnes.
While the data is highly aggregated,
it provides an indication of the quantity
of bait being purchased, and used every
year. In the case of specimen fi shing
(species such as carp) the average
purchase is higher, at 52.3kg bait per
year.
PRIORITY FOCUS
Maintaining sustainable target fi sh
populations remains the number one
priority for the angling sector. This
requires good water quality and healthy
aquatic habitats – fi shing baits are
potentially an important consideration
here. For example, the extent to
which baits are fully digestible by
fi sh and other aquatic-life, or remain
undigested, could potentially negatively
affect water quality and fi sh health. On
the other hand, whether baits should
go beyond simply attracting fi sh to
better supplement their natural diet,
potentially contributing to healthy
weight gains which could increase
a fi shery’s asset value, as well as
benefi tting other aquatic life.
Another factor is whether or not
ingredients themselves are responsibly
sourced (for example, whether seafood
is supplied from a certifi ed sustainable
fi shery). It is also important to consider
if the sourcing, production, packaging
and distribution processes can be
redesigned to minimise environmental
impacts – using readily recyclable
packaging materials perhaps.
Many of these issues haven’t
generally been considered, publicly
at least, by bait producers. Looking
forward, the survey is intended to
inform the current position and
hopefully provide a useful starting
point for further discussion across the
global angling community.
ANGLERS SURVEYED
For surveyed anglers, three disciplines
accounted for almost 95 per cent of
responses: specimen or carp fi shing
(61.2 per cent); mixed freshwater (or
coarse) fi shing (26.2 per cent); and sea
fi shing (7.4 per cent.) Predator (pike
or zander) and game angling together
accounted for 5.2 per cent.
Although more than 90 per cent of
the responses related to the UK market,
surveyed anglers actually fi shed in a
total of 16 different countries: Belgium,
Croatia, England, France, Germany,
Looking forward, the survey
is intended to inform
the current position and
hopefully provide a useful
starting point for further
discussion across the global
angling community”
Stuart McLanaghan
SUSTAINABILITY And The Tackle Trade
BAIT PLAYS KEY ROLE
IN TACKLE TRADE
SUSTAINABILITY
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