Fishing bait
A common concern is that some live baits (e.g. crayfish and pond loach) can escape and become invasive species, or have the potential to spread diseases or serve as vectors for parasites (e.g. zebra mussel).
It is also known that the use of artificial edible baits (especially groundbaits) can potentially cause eutrophication in the local water, which may lead to harmful algal blooms.
[4] Live bait being used to catch native species is a sustainable and desirable activity in a social and economical aspect,[5] although it is subjected to local regulations which may restrict usage due to ecological and ethical concerns.
Other ways anglers get natural bait is through usual methods of fishing, e.g. hook and line, traps and casting nets.
In subtropical lakes such as those in Florida, panfish such as sunfish are such opportunistic feeders that they will even take out-of-the-packet pet food or even household wheat bread as bait.
Lures are inedible artificial baits that are replica "fake foods" designed to mimic the appearance of different prey (usually small fish, as well as worms).
[9] Using lures is a popular method among North American anglers, particularly for catching vision-oriented predators such as black bass, trout and pike.
Different manufacturers are continuously modifying lures with new hydrodynamic designs, materials and bionic technologies to better represent and attract the attention of fish.
Groundbaits are typically scattered in large quantities separately from the hook, usually before even casting any rod or net, although in bottom fishing they can be deployed synchronously with hookbaits while contained inside a gradual-release device known as a method feeder.
Anglers may also mix additives to alter the groundbait's firmness in order to control its rate of release and diffusion once in the water.
A 1987 Welsh study had shown that after cereal or maggot groundbaiting over a 12-week period, nearly all benthic invertebrate taxa except the tubificid Limnodrilus hoffmeisteri were reduced in density, especially the naidid worms and cladocerans, and the recovery was not apparent after 4 months, although cyclopoid copepods were significantly more abundant in treated areas.
[16] A later study by the team showed that nutrient inputs from the use of commercial groundbaits could be compensated by sacrificing (removing) the captured fish, but if complete catch-and-release is practiced (thus no biomass is removed), the inputs of total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) are about four- and three- times higher respectively than if groundbaits are not used.
One of these concerns comes from the lost or carelessly discarded lures left in the environment, as these tackles are made of materials that typically do not biodegrade easily.
[18] Many materials used in the manufacturing of lures, such as lead (ubiquitous in jigheads and bottom rigs), plastics and paint, can degrade after prolonged exposure to the elements and release harmful toxic heavy metals, volatile organic compounds and microplastics[19] that are either hazardous to the planktons and other small basal organisms, or get concentrated through the food chain.
