Z-Man a leading tackle company’s environmental efforts conservation commitment moves toward carbon neutrality, zero waste and healthy fisheries
Beyond an obsession for battling big fish, there’s one thing upon which anglers almost universally agree: Clean, healthy waterways and flourishing fish habitat lie at the heart of everything we hold sacred.
Count the people at Z-Man Fishing among America’s 60 million anglers—everyday folks you might meet at the tackle shop or along the shoreline. At some point each day, we’ll stop casting, survey our surroundings and simply marvel at the beauty both above the surface and below; we’ll pause to ponder what this awe-inspiring place might look like, 5, 10 or 100 years from now. It’s at times like these that anglers grasp their power to write the future—the same reason Z-Man has for years been working creatively, quietly, to help sustain healthy, vibrant fisheries behind the scenes.
It began early in the company’s 30-year history. From the beginning, Z-Man understood the value of supporting causes that ensure long-term sustainability of fisheries and aquatic environments. These motivations are evident in Z-Man’s product line itself, as its 10X Tough ElaZtech® soft plastic material exhibits advantages that lessen its environmental impact relative to other soft baits.
Not only does ElaZtech’s boosted durability reduce the number of soft plastic baits used by anglers, ingested by fish or discarded in the water, Z-Man’s specialized material is also one-hundred percent non-toxic and free from harmful chemicals like phthalates. Additionally, ElaZtech floats and is FDA Food Grade compliant—as opposed to traditional plastisol baits, which sink to the bottom and can be ingested by fish and other wildlife, sometimes causing digestive problems among other issues. Conversely, any inadvertently discarded ElaZtech baits will float and can be easily scooped from the water’s surface for proper disposal.
Sustaining the Aquatic Ecosystem
Part of Z-Man’s mission has always been to further causes that preserve healthy ecosystems and enhance fishing opportunities. Today, Z-Man’s support of such initiatives ranges from backing action-oriented groups like Captains for Clean Water and Release Over 20 to empowering future fisheries management via Z-Man endowed graduate research assistantships at the University of Florida’s Nature Coast Biological Station in Cedar Key.
When seeking out opportunities to conserve cherished fisheries by minimizing its impact on nature, Z-Man management identified essential actions toward meaningfully reducing its carbon footprint. “Two aspects of our manufacturing process that we’ve always felt could be improved upon include minimizing the power we pull from the electrical grid and finding a way to recycle manufacturing waste from our ElaZtech production line,” remarks Z-Man President Daniel Nussbaum, a longtime conservationist and forward-thinking fishing industry executive. “Most any company can purchase enough carbon offsets to claim that it’s carbon neutral, but our goal was to find ways to actually reduce the impact of our production-related activities.” As a result of its initiatives, Z-Man recently achieved exciting benchmarks in an ongoing quest to give back to aquatic environments.