Fishing Lines, Deadly When Discarded, Pose Threat to Birds in City Parks
Park Birds Snagged by Fishing Line and Hooks
Carelessly discarded fishing line and hooks in Prospect Park is posing a threat to birds.
It is sad and disheartening to hear that people still leave fishing line around.
"The problem is not new — or limited to Prospect Park. Birders in other city and state parks report similar cases. The Ocean Conservancy in Washington points out that monofilament fishing line, which is made from an individual fiber of plastic, has been in use since World War II, and as the decades pass, it has accumulated in the water and on land. For a quarter-century, the conservancy has organized coastal cleanups throughout the world on a single day in September. Over that time, 1,340,114 pieces of discarded fishing line have been collected, according to the group.
“Plastics in general are the most persistent forms of marine debris,” said Nicholas Mallos, a conservation biologist with the conservancy. “Once monofilament line becomes loose in the marine environment, it poses a serious threat.”"
Please remember, do not leave fishing line in the water or on the land, dispose of it properly or recycle it. Talk to your tackle store about line recycling.
Line Recycling
Re spool and Recycle
Public response to Berkley's innovative line and spool recycling program has been remarkable. Since 1990, the Berkley Conservation Institute, with the help of anglers everywhere, has recycled more than 9 million miles worth of fishing line. That's enough line to fill two reels for every angler in America.
And it continues to grow! Retailers and marinas have provided their support by displaying over 17,000 recycling collection bins. Magazines and radio stations have provided public service announcements.
Please continue your support. Pick up discarded fishing line and recycle it by dropping it off in a recycling collection bin, or mail it directly to our collection center at:
Berkley Recycling
1900 18th Street
Spirit Lake, Iowa 51360
Florida Monofilament Recovery & Recycling Program
The Monofilament Recovery & Recycling Program (MRRP) is a statewide effort in Florida to educate the public on the problems caused by monofilament line left in the environment, to encourage recycling through a network of line recycling bins and drop-off locations in Florida , and to conduct volunteer monofilament line cleanup events.
Lake Champlain (Vermont)
Montana Monofilament Recovery & Recycling
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
South Carolina Monofilament Recycling
WildCare (San Francisco Bay Area, California)
5 comments:
Hi there,
Great post and reminder.
I do believe that every angler should be responsible for his/her own lines, and wast, on or around the water, and think about conservation.
After all it is taking care of our passion.
Have a good day.
It’s a real shame and we as sportspeople should not only be aware but do our upmost to prevent it.
Never leave broken lines anywhere, collect them and put them in your pocket to dispose of them later.
Every time I break when spinning I get the worst feeling, not for losing a lure but I know that the lure will continue to fish, probably a bird or otter.
It often makes me pack up and go home.
We need to use biodegradable lines, but I for one don’t know of any…..yet, I get onto it right away. I’ll let you know if I find anything.
Thanks for the entry. Frank
This is why we carry a bag with us fishing and pick up all we can and there is a lot to pick up.
Mark
Hello again.
Well as I said I got onto searching for environmentally friendly lines and found one I particularly liked.
Here's the link: http://www.greentackle.com/
There is also a video on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsgqlChHgQ4
Happy and Green Fishing. Frank
Merry Christmas and a Happy recycling New Year.
All the best to you, your family and all your readers.
Frank
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