1Hour Session on the Wind-chilled Antrim Coast

Returning to the same mark as last week in an attempt to make amends somewhat, but maybe more so to just get some fresh air and wet a line, I immediately noticed that someone had been down and bleached the hole pier so as to kill the slippery algae/seaweed that had formed.
Yes the pier can become a potential dead-trap with the green scum (I have a seen some nasty accidents of people slipping in the past!) but I do have my reservations as to the effect bleaching has on the environment. Yes it saves a lot of nasty accidents but is it indeed legal to spray bleach on a pier??

I arrived too late to have a proper session as I didn't have the equipment to fish into dark, so an hour or so was all I managed.
It was a pleasant evening but the wind chill was nasty, so maybe just as well..

An edible crab, a plump little flounder and a coley for my trouble; I was just pleased to save the blank

Hopefully you can see the effect of the bleaching on the final pic. Opinions please.
Have seem it done here and on other Antrim coast piers before.

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I can't comment on the legalities or even if it was actually bleach that was used although it is quite possible as it would do the job.
What I can comment on is the environmental impact. When it comes into contact with the organic material it oxidises into just plain water and oxygen, the process of how it gets there is what does the job on the dirt and growth.
The effect is pretty much limited to the area it's applied, it's rendered inactive as soon as it gets washed into the water pretty much. As a result it's actually quite an environmentally friendly way of cleaning stuff.

In a short session you managed to double your species count for the year! Regarding cleaning the pier, I think in the past that various copper compounds were and possibly still are, used to treat slipways for algal growth. I would think copper would be more persistent in the environment than bleach which as bogwoppit states breaks down quickly on contact with organic matter.
P.s., did you eat the edible crab?!

[chuckaroo]

I can't comment on the legalities or even if it was actually bleach that was used although it is quite possible as it would do the job.
What I can comment on is the environmental impact. When it comes into contact with the organic material it oxidises into just plain water and oxygen, the process of how it gets there is what does the job on the dirt and growth.
The effect is pretty much limited to the area it's applied, it's rendered inactive as soon as it gets washed into the water pretty much. As a result it's actually quite an environmentally friendly way of cleaning stuff.

It is a sodium hypochlorite solution that is being used, it is readily available in certain petrol stations, garden centres, farm shops and such like up this way. It is a concentrated bleach and is used to disinfect and remove growth and dirt etc, I have seen the empty black drums laying. It says on the label that is is 'very toxic to aquatic life', to 'avoid release to the environment'. I would like to believe your statement all the same bogwoppit.

In a short session you managed to double your species count for the year! Regarding cleaning the pier, I think in the past that various copper compounds were and possibly still are, used to treat slipways for algal growth. I would think copper would be more persistent in the environment than bleach which as bogwoppit states breaks down quickly on contact with organic matter.
P.s., did you eat the edible crab?!

Would like to believe you too JW. Sounds encouraging.
Regarding eating the edible crab, I didnt. The little flounder wasn't so fortunate though It had swallowed the hook deep, was bleeding from the gills, I hadnt got my wee disgorger with me, my fingers were numb! So,.... it wasn't looking good for him. He was knock on the head and I will pick the meat off him for breakfast tomorrow morning. lol.


Power-hosing the pier would be a better solution

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Last edited by chuckaroo on Tue Jan 12, 2016 2:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.

When you said bleach I assumed hydrogen peroxide.
Sodium hypochlorite I don't know as much about, I'll do a little research and see.

A power hose would have been a more eco friendly way of going about chuck ,and long over due had few close calls recently good to see some fish getting caught ( not many cod about ) going to try and get up there early next week