Press release: Members of the European Parliament vote to restrict lead in fishing tackle

Today, in the Environment Committee, MEPs sided with nature and voted against the objection to the restriction proposal on lead in fishing tackle.

The objection was tabled by MEP Pietro Fiocchi (ECR), who falsely claimed that the proposal lacked sufficient scientific and economic justification supporting a restriction.

This was a dangerous attempt to block a measure essential for protecting wildlife, human health and the environment.

Approximately 4.800 tonnes of lead is released into the environment annually through fishing tackle. Lead has been proven to be extremely toxic to aquatic ecosystems, causing both acute and chronic poisoning of wildlife and people.

A ban on sales of lead in fishing tackle and weights will prevent the spread of this toxic material into rivers, lakes and shorelines. It will protect 7 million birds from poisoning, and keep fishers and their families safer too.

In the UK, a 1987 ban on lead fishing weights helped the recovery of the Mute Swan (Cygnus olor). This intervention significantly reduced the proportion of Mute Swans dying from lead poisoning from 34% to 6%, doubling its population size across the UK in 40 years.[1]

Barbara Herrero, Senior Nature Restoration Policy Officer says, “We are very pleased to see that Members of the European Parliament are listening to the indisputable facts and are calling for this restriction. We have already seen it be removed from more commonly used products like petrol and paint. We will be watching closely to make sure that the EU representatives in the Parliament will continue doing what is best for the health of Europe’s people and nature. We urge the Parliament to stand with nature and to move forward with the restriction.”

ENDS.

Notes for editors:

[1] Regulation of lead fishing weights results in Mute swan population recovery: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0006320718311030?via%3Dihub

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