The European Fishing Tackle Trade Association (EFTTA), which represents the tackle trade in Europe, has requested the industry to voluntarily stop making, importing and selling fishing weights made of lead. In a recent position statement the trade body has called on the fishing tackle trade and angling community to voluntarily minimize the use of lead weights and use them only in the absence of any suitable alternatives. EFTTA also proposes that lead weights heavier than 0.06g should be replaced with weights made from alternative materials. Meanwhile, sizes below 0.06g cannot be adequately made without the use of lead and according to EFTTA, some tiny split shot and styl sizes could still be used. The position statement was signed by EFTTA's chief executive, Jean-Claude Bel, and supported by a group of national angling organizations in Austria, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Italy, the Netherlands and Slovenia and Sweden, plus the Confederation Internationale de la Peche Sportive and the International Confederation of Sportfishing.

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