Rozalia Project Intern Blog: Monofilament: use it then RECYCLE it!

Today's post is 4th in our series of blog posts by incoming Rozalia Project interns. This one comes from Kayla Lubold who normally attends Eckerd College as an Environmental Science major. Currently, however, she is at sea with Sea Education Association! Kayla, like the others, was asked to write about marine debris from a personal perspective.

When monofilament fishing line is not disposed properly, it is a great threat to the environment, especially the aquatic species. For one of my environmental studies classes our finial project was on any environmental issue. That was easy to me because I wanted to learn more about how you can lessen your impact on the environment from fishing. I chose this topic because in many places where I go fishing people are not cleaning up their fishing line, never mind recycling it. Some fisherman can be careless about leaving behind their fishing line or some don’t know the risks of what loose fishing line can do to the environment.

Through this project I learned about the effects of monofilament. The fishing line is often clear and appears invisible to the animals.  Animals such as shorebirds, turtles and seals get entangled in the fishing line that was left behind. If entangled, the animal could lose a limb or its life. Animals may confuse monofilament for food, ingest it or use it as nesting material. (Wildlife Rescue & Rehabilitation)

During my research I learned the different ways fisherman can recycle their monofilament line. In areas that do provide recycling stations, they are located indoors and outdoors. The indoor recycling bins can be found at some tackle shops and other participating shops. The outdoor bins are typically found at marinas, boat ramps, piers and are made from PVC.  Where I go to school in Florida the recycling bins for monofilament line are everywhere, but I know in many other areas they are hard to find or nonexistent.  If you are interested in placing a recycle bin in your local area the Florida Monofilament Recovery & Recycling Program (MRRP) website has great instructions on how to build an indoor or outdoor bin. (Monofilament Recovery & Recycling Program)

Rozalia Project note: The Boat US Foundation (an awesome Rozalia Project partner, and one of our first partners), has an excellent nationwide monofilament recovery and recycling program. In fact, Rozalia Project is working with them to put bins in some of the locations we visit where we find a lot of discarded fishing line just sitting on the docks or wrapped around pilings. For information about the Boat US Foundation's Reel in and Recycle Program see: http://www.boatus.com/foundation/monofilament/

Work Cited

Wildlife Rescue & Rehabilitation. March 20, 2008. March 26, 2012. Wildlife Rescue & Rehabilitation to Assist with Monofilament Line Removal.                                                           

http://wildlife-rescue.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=90&Itemid=91 

Monofilament Recovery & Recycling Program. State of Florida, Web. 26 Mar 2012. http://mrrp.myfwc.com/