Two loons have died from swallowed fishing tackle made of lead, the first reported this year.
According to New Hampshire Fish and Game, a lead-poisoned loon was found May 21 on Massabesic Lake in Auburn, and another was found May 26 in northern New Hampshire.
A necropsy of the first loon performed at the New Hampshire Diagnostic Veterinary Laboratory confirmed that the bird had ingested a lead sinker.
The second loon was sick when found; an X-ray showed “an assortment of ingested fishing tackle, and a blood test revealed lead levels more than three times the threshold for clinical lead poisoning,” according to a Fish and Game press release. The loon was euthanized and is awaiting necropsy.
In 2000, New Hampshire became the first state in the nation to restrict the sale and use of small lead fishing tackle to protect loons. A new law increasing protection for loons from lead fishing jigs went into effect last year, banning the sale and freshwater use of lead sinkers and jigs weighing 1 ounce or less, regardless of length or attachments.
Loons swallow pebbles to break up fish they have swallowed, and they can accidentally ingest small split-shot lead sinkers at the same time.
Both of the dead loons found this year had an assortment of hooks, fishing line and wires from fishing tackle in their gizzards, indicating that “these deaths were likely due to current fishing activity,” according to Fish and Game.
Officials said it is worrisome to find two dead loons so early in the season, because lead poisoning usually peaks in July and August, correlating with peak lake use and fishing in New Hampshire.
Poisoning from lead fishing tackle is the leading cause of adult loon mortality in New Hampshire.
The Loon Preservation Committee and Fish and Game are part of a regionwide initiative called Fish Lead Free (fishleadfree.org), providing resources for anglers to switch to lead-free tackle. Safe alternatives made of steel, tungsten, tin, bismuth and many other materials are available, although they are usually more expensive.
Tips and tactics for fishing lead-free can be found online at wildnh.com/fishing/get-the-lead-out.html.
Collection receptacles for old lead tackle can be found at all New Hampshire Fish and Game offices and at The Loon Center in Moultonborough.