EU Moves to Tighten Restrictions on Lead Fishing Tackle and Ammunition Near Wetlands

It is estimated that 4,000 tons of lead entered EU wetlands in the form of gunpowder each year. The toxic substance poisons both water and soil.

Additional restrictions on lead fishing tackle are currently being prepared.

From a legal perspective, if one of the EU member states tries to clarify what wetlands mean, for example by narrowing the meaning defined in the regulation, this may be followed by a procedure from the European Commission. Directives still allow for interpretation, but the regulation does not. So, wetlands in the sense of the regulation are floodplains, grass and peat bogs or water areas – natural or artificial, permanent or overflowing, in which there is stagnant or flowing water, fresh water, brackish or salty water, including sea water areas, the depth of which does not exceed six meters at low tide . “Wetland is an absolutely vague concept in our conditions, because giant puddles can appear even where there is no wetland at all,” concludes Dombrovska.

In addition, the ban applies not only to duck hunting, as many imagine, but also to the use of lead shot in shooting ranges located near wetlands.

The European Commission also believes that, in order to make it easier to comply with the regulation, the carrying restriction should not only apply to carrying during a shooting excursion in wetlands, but also to carrying in connection with going to shoot in wetlands, in other words, carrying in conditions closely related to shooting itself. This would include, for example, cases where cartridges are carried when going out to shoot in wetlands or returning from such shooting, or when cartridges are carried by someone assisting hunters on a shooting expedition.

FACE has also emphasized that this regulation is contrary to any principle of the fundamental rights of the European citizen, namely the presumption of innocence.

The regulation stipulates that if a person is found to be carrying such cartridges in wetlands or up to 100 m away from wetlands during a shooting excursion or as part of it, it is considered that the relevant shooting is wetland shooting, unless the relevant person can prove that it is some other type of shooting .

For now, proposals to ban other types of lead ammunition in hunting have stalled due to the war in Ukraine, but it will certainly be pushed forward in the future. That is why hunters demand laws that are logical, understandable and enforceable.

The article was written in cooperation with PEFC.

2023-12-26 22:01:21
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