Tireside Chats
Do Tires Provide Fish Habitat?
Often, folks question whether removing a tire impairs fish habitat. I get this line all the time.
« What if fish use the tire to survive somehow? Shouldn't it stay where it is forever? »
Honestly, they are grasping at illogical reasons to leave the tire in the stream or even on the shore.
There are deep pools in the estuary of the Nashwaak where if one is lucky, one can glimpse salmon lying on the bottom on a fall day. I have seen them hover over a tire. Do you believe they have any use for that hunk of rubber in their sanctuary?
Before
Under the bridge at the Mouth of the Nashwaak. This tire took a group effort to remove. |
After
The lighting is different but it's the same place ... minus the tire! |
Another After After the tire was removed, tiny fishes immediately moved into the hole left by Nashwaak Number 31. |
 Note the dead area inside the rims of this tire on the bottom of the Saint John River, number 89. Tires do not create habitat, they destroy habitat. |
Yes, there is some muddying of the water when a tire is removed, but only for a few seconds. The sediments trapped under the tire's rim are returned to the river, and the river bottom is re-exposed and restored, from rubber sterility to natural fertility.
I believe removing tires enhances fish habitat. They should all come out!!!
Reach out and Remove a Tire!
Tire-Free Rivers is a non-profit volunteer crusade. Tire-Free Rivers is not affiliated with anything else. Nobody makes any money doing this.
