Bill to limit lead ammo, fishing tackle back at Minnesota Capitol

By John Myers, Duluth News Tribune

ST. PAUL — Some Minnesota lawmakers are back at the Capitol this year with another plan to phase out the use of small lead fishing tackle and lead ammunition, saying the time is past due to clean up the environment and protect loons, eagles and people from lead poisoning.

The bills, SF3782 and HF 3813, so far have not received committee hearings. It remains unclear if the bill can get a hearing and advance in 2024, given the short legislative session and limited agenda.

That lead is a potent neurotoxin is not in question, especially for children and developing fetuses, but also for adults and wildlife.
(PHOTO)

The split-shot fishing sinkers on the right are made of tin and are shinier than the lead sinkers on the left, and they are also nontoxic to loons and other birds. The lead-free sinkers are also slightly larger than the lead sinkers of comparable weight. Ingrid Young / 2002 file / Duluth Media Group

Supporters of the legislation, including the Izaak Walton League, note that lead has been removed from all gasoline and paint for decades, and banned from all ammunition used to hunt migratory waterfowl for 40 years.

But critics say the effort is an overreach reaction to a non-problem. Similar bills have been introduced, but failed to pass, several times over the past 25 years in Minnesota, with opposition from some of the state’s largest fishing tackle manufacturers and from Federal Cartridge Co., the Minnesota-based ammunition manufacturer.

The American Sportfishing Association and the National Marine Manufacturers Association, both industry trade groups, strongly oppose lead tackle regulations. The groups note that lead tackle regulations are aimed at the “morality of individual loon deaths” while natural resources should be managed at population levels.

Mark Oliva, communications director for the Washington-based National Shooting Sports Foundation, a trade group for the firearms industry, said the latest effort by Minnesota lawmakers to ban lead ammunition is misguided. Oliva said there has been no scientific link made between the use of lead or consumption of wild game and high lead levels in people. And he said loon and eagle populations are thriving across the U.S.

“It seems this comes up in Minnesota almost every year, and we are still opposed to it because the science just doesn’t back it up,’’ Oliva said.