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No. Grafton, Mass., -- A 12-year Tufts University research study revealing New England loons are dying from lead poisoning has triggered a third state, Massachusetts, to consider banning lead fishing sinkers from freshwater fishing areas. This summer, Massachusetts wildlife officials held a public hearing on proposed regulations to ban lead fishing sinkers and jigs on both the Wachusett and Quabbin Reservoirs. If regulations are approved, as expected, Massachusetts will join New Hampshire and Maine in the growing number of states choosing to regulate lead fishing gear in different ways. New Hampshire enacted legislation banning lead sinkers on all state water areas in January, and Maine has similar legislation taking effect in 2002. Four other states Vermont, New York, Minnesota and Wisconsin -- are discussing similar action or have begun educational campaigns.
Overseas, both Great Britain and Denmark have likewise banned lead fishing gear. Canada has also banned lead gear in its state parks. Since 1989, Pokras and fellow Tufts wildlife biologists have conducted animal autopsies (called necropsies) on nearly 500 dead loons. They have found that more than half of the adult loons from the region's freshwater lakes and ponds are dying of lead poisoning. Loons ingest pebbles, and perhaps mistakenly, lead sinkers to aid in digestion. In the loon's acidic gizzard, the lead breaks down quickly, is absorbed into the blood, and can cause death within two weeks. A single dose of 0.3 grams of lead has proven fatal to loons. Lead sinkers and jigs generally weigh between .5 and 15 grams. Wildlife biologists, including Susan Hitchcox from the Maine Audubon Society, are crediting Tufts research for propelling the lead safety campaigns. According to Hitchcox, the Tufts studies were "the key to passing Maine's legislation last year."
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Tufts
University Research Triggers Bans On Lead Fishing Gear 
"With
three New England states on board, we're looking to move this
initiative to the federal level and expand this kind of protection
nationwide," said Dr. Mark Pokras, head of Tufts' Wildlife Clinic
at the School of Veterinary Medicine. "With this kind of leadership,
we will save the lives of not only hundreds of loons, but many
other species of wild birds who fish on freshwater lakes." 